CHARITIES have welcomed calls for the Scottish Government to create more suitable accommodation for single homeless people but have stressed more work must be done to prevent the need for it in the first place.
A motion is set to be debated at the SNP conference this weekend which encourages the Scottish Government to explore converting suitable premises in town centres to create safe accommodation for single people and look at replicating the eco-village in Edinburgh created by Social Bite.
It comes after Government data showed 70% of households in 2020/21 were single-person, and that single-person accommodation was in limited supply in Scotland.
The Social Bite eco-village in Granton supports up to 20 homeless people to help them build an independent life. It is made up of 10 NestHouses -each shared by two residents plus an additional unit for staff - with a central community hub where residents can cook, eat and socialise.
The resolution has been welcomed by charity Crisis which said the Scottish Government has made “huge progress” in tackling homelessness over the years.
But chief executive Matt Downie said the UK Government and Scottish Government needed to work harder on introducing measures that would prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.
He told The National: “We welcome the fact that homelessness will be on the agenda at SNP conference.
“While the Scottish Government has made huge progress in its efforts to tackle homelessness over the past few years, with the cost of living soaring and more and more Scots struggling to make ends meet, we are deeply concerned over the prospect of a huge rise in people being forced from their homes in the coming months.
“We need to see urgent action to prevent a spike in homelessness. That means the UK Government increasing benefits to match housing costs, and for the Scottish Government to press on with plans for public services to play a greater role in preventing homelessness from happening in the first place.
“By offering people support earlier, and by widening responsibility for preventing homelessness, we can make sure everyone has a safe and secure place to call home.”
In August it emerged homeless applications in Glasgow had increased to their highest level in a decade.
Figures showed almost 7000 applications to the city council in 2021/22, up by 578 from the year before. Homeless applications have been increasing every year in the city since 2017/18 when there were 5248 cases.
Social Bite said there was still progress that needed to be made to ensure there was suitable accommodation for all homeless people.
A spokesperson said: “As a charity based in Scotland Social Bite is committed to ending homelessness and welcomes a positive and constructive focus towards that goal. Our aim is to bring Scotland together by building a collaborative approach to end homelessness.
“The Housing First initiative supported by Social Bite, the Scottish Government, local authorities and other agencies and charities is one such example of doing this and offers support, living environment, and opportunities for those in need. The evaluation and statistics show how powerful a Housing First approach can be.
“We know that positive steps have been made to make systemic changes to end homelessness in Scotland, and we welcome a continued and shared approach moving forward; yet there is still work to be done to ensure more stock of truly suitable accommodation in order to provide people with a safe home of their own, with support structures in place to help them thrive.”
The full motion for debate on Sunday, October 9 - which is the day before World Homeless Day - can be viewed on page 10 of the conference agenda.
