Shelter Scotland warns of ‘broken and biased’ housing system amid housing emergency

Shelter Scotland blasts the government for “Scotland’s broken and biased housing system” as new figures reveal the number of households experiencing homelessness reaches record highs.

According to figures released by the Scottish government, despite a decrease in the number of homeless applications for the first time in four years, Shelter Scotland claims the “numbers raise more questions than answers.”

The housing charity claims people were denied temporary accommodation when they were legally entitled to it at an unprecedented level in 2024-25, 16,485 times, which was more than double the number from the previous year.

These shocking figures are the devastating reality of Scotland’s persistent housing emergency

According to the figures, the number of households experiencing homelessness reached a record high, and there are now 17,240 households in temporary accommodation, a 6% increase compared to 2024.

The figures also reveal the number of children in temporary accommodation also experienced an annual increase (1%) between March 2024 and 2025 reaching 10,180. However, this was a 2% decrease compared to 10,360 in September 2024.

Gordon MacRae, Shelter Scotland assistant director communications and advocacy, said: “These shocking figures are the devastating reality of Scotland’s persistent housing emergency.

“We are still seeing the consequences of the failure to deal with the backlog of homelessness and despite the publication of the Cabinet Secretary’s Housing Emergency Action Plan, there is nothing in it that will bring homelessness to an end.”

Scotland’s broken and biased housing system

He adds: “The minute decrease in homeless applications and children in temporary accommodation are of course, a good thing, but they do not disguise the dangers that remain in Scotland’s broken and biased housing system.

“We know that people who present to their council as homeless face the prospect of unlawfully being turned away, of spending the night on the streets, and if they are placed in temporary accommodation, it might be unsuitable or unsafe, and they might be stuck there for years.

“In that scenario, we need to understand if the drop in applications is because councils are doing better, or if it’s because people are giving up hope of ever getting a home.”

Build more social homes

Mr MacRae claims Scottish politicians need to tackle the housing emergency and build more social homes.

He said: “In the current climate, the failures of the Home Office and the asylum system are making an already difficult situation for councils worse. It’s never been more important that politicians show the public that they can fix the housing system and stop the racists and those that seek to divide us from weaponising the current housing emergency.

“All of Scotland’s politicians know what is needed: deliver a minimum of 15,693 social homes every year so that the local services that can prevent and end homelessness have the tools to do their job.

“If they choose not to do that, we should expect that the next set of homelessness statistics will be worse yet again.”