Single homelessness in Scotland

The national charity for single homeless people, Crisis, has found that despite Scotland introducing some of the most progressive homelessness legislation in the world, differences remain in single homeless peoples' experiences of assistance compared to those of families.

The new report examined the quality of assistance provided to single homeless people and compared them with those of homeless families. Since 2013 anyone in Scotland finding themselves homeless through no fault of their own has the right to a permanent home.

The research, which was conducted by Dr Peter Mackie and Dr Ian Thomas, found that only 47 per cent of single homeless people in Scotland were found settled accommodation when they asked their council for help, compared to 66 per cent of families.

Dr Mackie said, “The assistance offered to single homeless people in Scotland is exceptional when compared to other developed nations and we must recognise this.

“However, this study shows that efforts to prevent homelessness are highly inconsistent and many single homeless people are not finding a home when they seek local authority assistance. We must look carefully at the services offered by local authorities if we really wish to meet the needs of single homeless people.”

The report found that help available to single homeless people varied greatly between local authorities with some councils more likely to house people in temporary accommodation while others take longer processing homelessness applications. A significant minority of local authorities were found to be making a high proportion of intentionally homeless decisions leaving the applicant ineligible for permanent settled accommodation.

Full details of the report’s conclusions and recommendations can be found on the Crisis website here - Single homelessness in Scotland.