Edinburgh Council has recommended that a Haymarket hotel be used as homeless accommodation for another year.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s (CEC) Finance and Resource Committee are meeting tomorrow (March 3) and a report prepared for them recommends that the Haymarket Hub Hotel continue to be used temporary homeless accommodation.
Furthermore, another 41 contracts with hotels and bed and breakfasts in the city look set to be approved.
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The budget for temporary accommodation was boosted by an extra £12 million this year to cope with the pandemic but the committee say that this may not be enough, and another £2 million has been proposed.
The Haymarket Hotel at Clifton Terrace currently provides Edinburgh Council with 115 rooms for temporary homeless accommodation but the council are considering increasing this to 147 or 160 rooms.
A summary prepared for the committee explained that the coronavirus pandemic has led to more people being taken off the streets and placed into temporary accommodation.
It stated: “During the Covid-19 emergency, the council has been required to significantly increase the amount of temporary accommodation available to meet demand. There continues to be a demand for additional temporary accommodation to allow the council to meet its statutory duty to accommodate people who are homeless.”
The report goes onto explain that during the health crisis Edinburgh Council has had to accommodate an extra 1000 people, and secure them temporary accommodation, as is their legal obligation.
Pre-pandemic there were 3,570 households in temporary accommodation but since March 2020 that has increased to 4642, a 30 per cent spike.
A local homeless charity, the Bethany Trust have also been based at the hotel for the last year, providing the homeless with three meals a day and 24-hour support.
The Haymarket Hotel will not be exclusively used as homeless accommodation, and bookings are still available to the public for the hotel this weekend, ranging from £51 to £57 for a room for two.
