Figures reveal rise in number of people homeless

Cases of homelessness in the area are on the rise.

New figures show that 55 additional cases of homelessness were reported in the Stirling Council area in the year up to the end of September 2019.

It represents a nine per cent year-on-year increase since 2018.

A total of 666 cases were raised in the area over the timeframe, up from 611 over the annual period until September 2018.

Data also shows a quarterly rise in cases from July to September 2019, when 178 cases were recorded in the local authority area.

The figure represents an increase of ten cases from the previous period in April to June.

A two year high of 184 reported cases of homelessness was recorded between January and March last year.

Charity Shelter Scotland aims to help those facing issues with housing or homeslessness.

Director, Graeme Brown, says there is still more to be done. He commented:“These statistics lay bare that despite the success of the Scottish Government’s affordable housing building programme there is still a chronic shortage of social housing in Scotland to ensure everyone has a safe, affordable home. Derek MacKay must make next week’s budget a budget to build and radically increase the supply of both good quality temporary accommodation and the permanent social homes that people need.”

The Scottish Government’s Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart, said:“One person being made homeless is one too many, particularly in households which include children. That is why we are working in partnership with local government, people with lived experience and frontline services to transform services to support those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

“We want to ensure our systems do all they can to prevent homelessness and when it does happen, ensure there is a strong support system available to people so they can move into settled accommodation quickly.”

He added:“Scotland has some of the strongest rights in the world for anyone experiencing homelessness, including the right to help from their local authority to secure a stable home and emergency temporary accommodation. I am pleased that the numbers of those assessed as unintentionally homeless that have secured settled accommodation continues to rise and is at 81 per cent. But I recognise we must go further to achieve this for everyone.”

The Scottish Government has invested £32.5 million into projects aimed at offering permanent, settled accommodation, as the first response to minimise the length of time people spend in temporary accommodation.

Families with children and pregnant women are also only able to be housed in provisional accomodation such as B&Bs for a maximum of seven days.