Ending homelessness together: annual report 2023

Progress against actions to prioritise settled homes for all

We want everyone to have a safe, secure and affordable home. To that end, the Scottish Government is taking action to realise the right to adequate housing in Scotland.

• The Scottish Government has committed in its programme for government 2023 to 2024 to introduce a landmark human rights bill during the parliamentary year 2023-24. The bill will bring an enhanced focus to the implementation of social and economic rights, including the right to adequate housing.[6]
• We launched a consultation on the proposals for a new human rights bill for Scotland in June 2023. We also offered a series of public events to allow individuals and communities the chance to share their views on the bill.
• As affordability is an important element of the right to adequate housing, the Scottish Government created an expert group to develop a shared understanding of housing affordability. The group will deliver its findings in 2024.

The Scottish Government is committed to its target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70 per cent will be available for social rent and 10 per cent will be in our remote, rural and island communities.

• The latest quarterly affordable housing supply programme statistics were published in September 2023 and show that Scotland has led the UK in providing affordable housing across the UK with 123,985 affordable homes now delivered since April 2007, over 87,000 of which were for social rent, including 22,994 council homes.
• Since 23 March 2022, 13,354 homes have now been delivered towards the 110,000 affordable homes target, of which 10,459 (78 per cent) are homes for social rent.
• Since 2007, Scotland has seen over 40 per cent more affordable homes delivered per head of population than in England, and over 70 per cent more than in Wales.

We continue to encourage the housing sector to bring more empty homes back into use and support local authorities to develop their empty homes services and private rented sector access schemes.

The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership supports the Scottish Government with its ambitions to bring empty homes back into use.

• In its latest impact report, the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) reported that 1,257 properties were brought back to use in 2022-23, bringing the total number brought back into use since the partnership was formed to 9,014.
• The Scottish Government agreed further annual funding for SEHP in 2023 to support a more strategic approach to returning homes to active use.
• An independent audit of empty homes was published in September 2023 which made 11 recommendations to help improve the scale and pace of empty homes being brought back into use. The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of actions in response to the recommendations.
• The Scottish Government and COSLA published a consultation in April 2023 on increasing council tax on second and empty homes, followed by a commitment in our programme for government 2023-24 to give powers to local authorities to increase council tax by 100 per cent on second homes.
• We have announced up to £25 million over five years for local authorities and registered social landlords to acquire affordable homes in rural areas for key workers.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the use of temporary accommodation by 2026.

• Both the First Minister’s policy prospectus and our programme for government 2023 to 2024 include the commitment that by 2026, we and our partners will identify ways to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation, taking account of the recommendations of the temporary accommodation task and finish group.
• We published details of the actions we will take in response to the group’s recommendations in July 2023. In particular, we will:
  • invest at least £60 million through the Affordable Housing Supply programme in 2023-24 to support a national acquisition plan;
  • maintain momentum in delivering our Affordable Housing Supply Programme;
  • work with social landlords to deliver a new programme of stock management; and
  • implement targeted partnership plans with the local authorities facing greatest pressure.
• The Minister for Housing has met with the local authorities with the greatest number of people in temporary accommodation and invited them to share proposals for addressing the challenges they face. These will be used to inform targeted plans, backed by £2 million in additional funding.
• We are working on guidance for local authorities and registered social landlords on how national acquisition plan funds can be used to purchase empty and private sector homes and alleviate the pressures in temporary accommodation.
• We are taking forward work to reform compulsory purchase orders, starting with the appointment of an expert advisory group in 2023-24. We will implement new infrastructure levy regulations by spring 2026.
• We are also developing a guide on stock management to encourage local authorities and registered social landlords to make the most effective use of existing homes for homeless households. This will promote best practice on flipping[7] and void management and will urge landlords to prioritise homeless households in their allocations policies.

The Scottish Government and COSLA want to see a greater proportion of social homes allocated to homeless households.

• Overall, social landlords let 41 per cent of homes to homeless households in 2022-23 (up from 39 per cent in 2021‑22).
  • Local authorities increased the proportion of lets to homeless households to 49 per cent of all lets in 2022-23 (up from 46 per cent in 2021‑22).
  • Registered social landlords increased the proportion of lets to homeless households to 35 per cent of all lets in 2022-23 (up from 33 per cent in 2021-22).
• In 2022-23, social landlords let 20,986 homes to people assessed as homeless, up by 1 per cent (230) on the previous year, although that is in the context of a decrease in all lets of 3.6 per cent.
• • In August 2023, we published Scotland’s homelessness statistics for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. Of the 25,265 unintentionally homelessness cases that closed in 2022-23 – where contact was maintained and the outcome was known – 83 per cent (20,860) secured settled accommodation, compared with 82 per cent in 2021-22.

We are making steady progress with the roll out of Housing First in Scotland. We would like to see Housing First as the default option for people with multiple and complex needs experiencing homelessness. The three-year Housing First pathfinder taught us many valuable lessons about the benefits and challenges of scaling up Housing First in Scotland.

• The Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University carried out an independent evaluation of Scotland’s Housing First pathfinder programme, which housed and supported 579 people. In November 2022, Heriot-Watt University published a full report and helpful reflections on the key findings.
  • Scotland’s pathfinder was very effective at preventing repeat homelessness. Tenancy sustainment rates were 88 per cent over 12 months and 80 per cent over 24 months.
  • There was positive feedback from participants in the programme, with many reporting that Housing First had transformed their lives.
  • Delivering Housing First at scale is difficult but it is achievable and can deliver immense benefits for people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
• Since 2018-19, the Scottish Government has allocated £52.5 million to local authorities to assist them with implementation of their rapid rehousing transition plans, which includes Housing First programmes.
• By the end of March 2023, 26 local authorities were offering Housing First as part of their service provision and one local authority is developing a Housing First programme.[8]
• Homeless Network Scotland publishes a national framework, Branching Out, which guides housing professionals on starting up and scaling up Housing First in Scotland. It is regularly reviewed and was last updated in March 2023.
• The Scottish Government publishes a Housing First monitoring report on a regular basis to capture all Housing First activity in Scotland. The most recent report estimated that by 31 March 2023, 1,489 people with the hardest experiences of homelessness had received keys to settled homes.
• We estimate that 93 per cent of people[9] were still in their Housing First tenancies 12 months after entry.
• Several local authority areas have set up Housing First programmes for specific groups, including young people, women escaping domestic abuse, people leaving prison and people who have mental health problems.

We said we would develop best practice examples of choice in settled housing and assess the impacts of providing a wide range of housing options in local areas.

• While most settled homes offered to people who are homeless are in the social rented sector, homelessness data shows that most local authorities have secured successful outcomes by rehousing people in the private rented sector, although figures show a downward trend.[10]
• Thanks to funding from the Scottish Government, Scotland’s Housing Network published a good practice guide for local authorities in April 2023, Using the private rented sector to meet homelessness demand.
• The Everyone Home Collective released A route forward for the private rented sector in August 2023, setting out how the private rented sector could become a more accessible option for people experiencing homelessness. The Scottish Government welcomes the report and is committed to improving the way the private rented sector works in Scotland.
• The Scottish Government’s new homelessness prevention legislation aims to give people at risk of homelessness greater choice and control over their housing options and outcomes.