Homelessness

By Emma Dore at Shelter Scotland This week the Scottish Government released the annual Homelessness Statistics. In general, the statistics paint the same picture as last year with headline trends staying the same. The numbers of homeless applications and assessments as homeless continue to go down (

A pilot project has been hailed a success for helping homeless people to turn their lives around and find homes that meets their needs. The Housing First Renfrewshire initiative, a partnership between Renfrewshire Council and Turning Point Scotland, has over the last 12 months supported 10 local peo

A new programme aimed at preventing homelessness and reoffending by newly released young offenders was launched in Scotland on Wednesday. Young offenders aged 16-21 in HM Young Offenders Institute Polmont will benefit from the expertise of advisors from housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotl

Margaret Burgess A national approach to homelessness prevention has been praised for contributing towards a sixth consecutive annual fall in the number of people who are homeless.

An Edinburgh homeless charity has warned that vital services in the city are being closed or cut back because of a reduction in funding from the council. In a briefing document issued to its staff, Streetwork stated that the City of Edinburgh Council has cut about £200,000 of funding from the organ

Homeless people are being prevented from accessing their statutory rights to permanent accommodation because of “major financial barriers” introduced by some social landlords in Scotland, a law charity has warned. Govan Law Centre (GLC) said it is now common place in Glasgow for a homeless perso

Young people face considerable challenges navigating the housing market, with those on low and insecure incomes vulnerable and at potential risk of homelessness, according to a new report from the University of St Andrews published today. “Housing Generation Rent - What are the Challenges for Hous

Hundreds of Scottish Gas employees, their friends and families, walked, jogged or cycled for miles through Bo’ness on Sunday, raising thousands of pounds in support of the housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland. Participants in the ‘British Gas Treks Britain 2015’ event had the choi

Jimmy Black Dundee City Council has given its unanimous approval for a new scheme that will see the council buy homes from tenants in financial difficulty.

Hackney Council has amended an order that threatened rough sleepers with court action and fines of up to £1,000 following a campaign by homelessness groups and local people who said it risked criminalising vulnerable people. The local authority’s public space protection order (PSPO) introduced by

The Scottish Public Health Network has published a report aimed at restoring the Public Health response to homelessness and health in Scotland. Produced by Katy Hetherington, programme manager, NHS Health Scotland and Neil Hamlet, consultant in public health medicine, NHS Fife, the report brings tog

The former health centre in Forres is to be demolished to make way for council housing after Moray Council purchased the site from NHS Grampian. As part of the conditions of sale, carried out with the help of funding from the Scottish Government, the council is required to demolish the existing buil

More than £1.6 million of improvements to council houses across Dundee are set to be discussed by councillors next week. Dundee City Council’s housing committee will be asked to award a number of tenders including window replacement and external concrete work.

Shelter Scotland has published a paper which sets out the principles it believes should underpin further devolution of social security - including housing benefit – to the Scottish Parliament, and what steps the Scottish Government and UK governments should take in relation to the devolution of so

People in Scotland facing bad housing and homelessness will now be able to access free, housing, money and debt advice via their computer, tablets and mobile phones – with one-to-one support and signposting provided digitally from housing advisors. The new digital advice service has been launched