Easing pressure on temporary accommodation

Councils will receive a share of an additional £40m this year to increase the supply of social and affordable homes.

The funding, which was confirmed in April and has boosted the affordable housing supply programme budget to nearly £600m this year, will mostly be distributed to the five council areas with sustained temporary accommodation pressures: Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.

The money will be used to purchase properties to help reduce the number of families in temporary accommodation or, where appropriate, to bring long term voids back into use.

The remaining 27 local authorities will receive a share of the remaining funding. A further £40m will be allocated to councils next year.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan said:

“The delivery of affordable homes is the foundation of family life and is fundamental to how we achieve our priorities of eradicating child poverty and growing the economy.

“The key to tackling homelessness and reducing the time spent by families in temporary accommodation is to deliver more affordable homes.

“We have already supported councils to purchase almost 1,500 properties in 2023-24 for use as affordable homes. However, we must do more and, by committing £40m this year, we are accelerating that work.

“This money will help councils provide a warm, safe place that families can call home again.”

Background

Local authorities will receive the following share of funding: