Focus on reducing rates of homelessness is paying off
The number of homeless people asking for help is falling, new statistics reveal.
Renfrewshire Council says teams are dealing with less vulnerable adults with nowhere else to go.
It recorded an almost five per cent drop in those receiving aid compared to last year.
Local authority bosses told in a report to councillors how a multifaceted approach to tackling the problem is paying dividends.
It stated:“There has been a strong focus on this area for a number of years, and this has had an impact on the reduction in the number of homeless applications.
“Renfrewshire Council was the first local authority in Scotland to fund a Housing First service to intensively support into housing those with a history of repeat homelessness, addictions, offending and so on.
“Staff from homeless services carry out outreach work when anyone is found to be sleeping rough, and they offer advice and signposting to services, as well as arranging temporary accommodation if required.”
Council figures show the number of households assisted by homelessness services decreased by 106 to 2010 between 2015-16 and last year.
They reported a fall of more than 10 per cent since 2010-11 — when 2,244 people asked for help.
The number of households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness is also down.
This dropped more than 10 per cent last year compared to the 12 months before.
The total has been slashed by more than a third since 2010-11.
The use of furnished council houses as emergency homes has also fallen in the last seven years — down by almost 15 per cent to 590.
There were only five cases put up in B&B accommodation last year — down from 147 in 2010-11.
The average length of stay was just three days, compared to 11 over the comparative period.
Council chiefs have launched a training programme to help those released from prison or with convictions to return to life in Renfrewshire.
The programme caters for 60 people and aims to smash the barriers to employment and break the cycle of offending.
The Scottish Government has also set-up a national Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group to determine the root causes of the problem.
It has earmarked £50million to support projects to get people off the streets by finding out how temporary accommodation can be best used.
But housing charity Shelter says a lack of suitable properties is creating a“crisis”, with more than 21,000 across the country asking for help in the year leading up to March.
Alison Watson, deputy director of Shelter Scotland, says 44 per cent of those requests were for advice on managing rent, mortgages or payments.
She said:“Last year, we were busier than ever helping people with bad housing and homelessness.
“The terrible shortage of truly affordable homes, harsh welfare reforms, stagnant wages and the high cost of keeping a roof over their head are the main reasons driving people to ask for help.
“Struggling to afford or pay housing costs is the biggest presenting problem people have when coming to us for help.”