Glasgow City Council spent £20 million on hotels and bed and breakfasts in just three months, a 20% increase on the average quarterly spend in the last financial year. The spending surge comes as the city grapples with a deepening homelessness crisis.
Rising Costs and Service Cuts
The local authority has made cuts to services and increased business rents, leading some services to close. Housing campaigner Sean Clerkin of the Scottish Tenants Association blamed high rents and a lack of social housing, calling the situation a “catastrophe.”
Numbers in temporary accommodation, which can be of poor quality, have risen to 9,210. Clerkin said private operators have “profited from homeless misery” to the tune of over £20 million in the first three months of the financial year. He projected the annual cost could exceed £80 million, noting that some hotels have breached the Unsuitable Accommodation Order on 2,267 occasions.
Campaigner Calls for Emergency Response
Clerkin urged a public emergency response or a public protection emergency referral route. He said: “We need a multi agency intervention including a massive financial investment in building thousands of social rented homes especially cost effective modular homes with wrap around services to help our most vulnerable homeless people.”
There was some better news: the number of refugees in temporary housing appears to have stabilised after a surge in recent years. Glasgow has taken in a larger share of refugees due to Scottish Government housing laws. At the start of July, 5,867 were in such accommodation, a slight decrease from the previous month's record high.
Council Defends Actions
A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “In recent years, 47 per cent of new homes built in Glasgow have been social housing.” They added that the council approved a five-year plan to build more than 6,000 new affordable homes, mostly for social rent, which would help prevent and reduce homelessness.
The spokesperson acknowledged: “Any reduction in homelessness is welcome but we are still experiencing a major homelessness crisis and remain in a housing emergency.”
Scotland-Wide Housing Emergency
Scotland's housing emergency has left more than 18,092 households in temporary accommodation, some for years. Shelter Scotland says a household becomes homeless every 15 minutes. Over 44 homes sit empty across Scotland, highlighting systemic failures.
Shelter Scotland Interim Director Gordon Llewellyn-MacRae said: “The huge sums councils are spending on temporary accommodation are a consequence of Scotland’s housing emergency - not the cause of it.” He added that building social homes would reduce reliance on temporary solutions and that the Scottish Government must provide more support to areas in need.
