Homelessness in Scotland: 2023-24

Temporary accommodation

Key points in 2023-24

• Households spent an average of 226 days in temporary accommodation
• Households with children spent longer in temporary accommodation than those without
• Higher average times for open cases than closed cases
• Large increases in the number of cases not offered temporary accommodation
• Large increases in the number of breaches of the unsuitable accommodation order

Sources of temporary accommodation data

Since 2002, local authorities have provided aggregate snapshot information relating to households in temporary accommodation. While this allows trends to be explored over time, understanding around individual placements and how these relate to assessed households is not possible from the snapshot data. Therefore, since 1 April 2016 placement level information on households in temporary accommodation has been provided to enable a more rounded picture of the use of temporary accommodation.

The snapshot data shows 16,330 households in temporary accommodation as at 31 March 2024. The placement level returns show that there were 17,015 temporary accommodation placements open at 31 March 2024 – higher (685, 4%) than the snapshot returns. Differences may be explained by the returns including different types of temporary accommodation and the placement level returns experiencing a lag in cases being closed.

Both of these figures show households in temporary accommodation at a point in time and, as such, will include those who have recently entered temporary accommodation as well as those who have been in temporary accommodation for a longer period of time (including prior to the reporting year).

Reporting of temporary accommodation

Over 2023-24, 47,394 temporary accommodation placements were entered and 46,542 were exited. This is a net difference of 852. This is not quite the same as the increase of 1,291 households in temporary accommodation between 31 March and 2023 and 2024 from the HL2 data, however, this is likely due to the differences in the collections outlined above. Total number of placements is a useful measure for showing the overall scale of temporary accommodation usage. However, placement level analysis alone provides limited insight due to the often very transient nature of the use of temporary accommodation. It is not unusual for households to enter and exit multiple placements, with or without gaps in between.

When considering certain aspects of temporary accommodation such as number of placements, average time spent in temporary accommodation etc., the true extent of this can only be fully understood once a household’s homelessness application has been closed.

How many households entered temporary accommodation for the first time? How many exited for the last time?

In 2023-24, 23,578 households entered a first (ever) temporary accommodation placement. This may include households who made a homelessness application prior to this year. Over the same period, 19,775 households exited their last (ever) temporary accommodation placement. A household is considered to have ‘exited’ temporary accommodation in a reporting year only if their homelessness case has closed and their last associated temporary accommodation placement is within that year.

These figures give a net difference of 3,803 more households entering temporary accommodation for the first time than exiting for the last time. This relates to the increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation which can be seen in the snapshot figures. Although the numbers will not match given the differences outlined above.

The largest net increase was in Glasgow with 1,076 more households entering than exiting. This is nearly double the next largest in Edinburgh, with a net difference of 829.

How commonly is temporary accommodation used?

Chart 8: Three fifths of homelessness applications take up temporary accommodation

Number of temporary accommodation placements for applications closed in 2023-24

There is variation in the number of placements between local authorities with 89% of homeless households in Shetland having at least one temporary accommodation placement compared to 24% in East Renfrewshire. In Edinburgh and Glasgow, 11% and 9% of homeless households had five placements or more, respectively. Caution should be applied for local authorities where findings are based on small numbers.

What types of temporary accommodation are used?

Chart 9: Social sector accommodation is the most common type of temporary accommodation, in particular for households with children

Households in temporary accommodation, by type of accommodation, as at 31 March 2024

There has been an increase in the use of Bed & Breakfast temporary accommodation. For all households, this has increased from 12% of all placements at 31 March 2023 to 16% in 2024. For households with children this has increased from 2% to 3%. The increased pressures on temporary accommodation, as a result of the availability of settled accommodation, have led to an increased need to use B&B type accommodation.

Data from the placement level data collection can provide further insight into the total use of temporary accommodation over the course of homelessness cases. However, it is difficult to make direct comparisons with the snapshot data (shown in Chart 9) as different categories of temporary accommodation are used between the two returns.

There were a total of 43,260 temporary accommodation placements associated with cases that closed in 2023-24. Of which, 36% were in local authority or housing association/registered social landlord (RSL) accommodation; 16% were in hostel accommodation; and 34% were in bed & breakfast accommodation.

The higher proportion of hostel and bed & breakfast accommodation in the placement level returns (34% vs 16%) indicates that these types of temporary accommodation are more frequently used than the snapshot data suggests. However, this can be explained by the fact that the average duration for stays in these types of accommodation is much shorter - for example, 38 days in bed & breakfast compared to an average of 113 days for all temporary accommodation – and therefore they account for a much smaller proportion of the overall use of temporary accommodation. See Chart 11 for average durations by accommodation type.

Data on the number of placements and average length of time will help improve understanding of the ways in which different types of temporary accommodation are used.

How long do households spend in temporary accommodation?

The average time households that took it up spent in temporary accommodation was 226 days for cases that closed in 2023-24. This is similar to the 225 days last year, although has increased from 176 in 2017-18, the start of the time series.

Note that total duration is calculated by summing the time a household spends in individual placements, excluding time between placements when a household is not in temporary accommodation. As a result the time a household spends in temporary accommodation may not be continuous.

Edinburgh has the highest average time at 507 days. Other notably high durations in temporary accommodation are in Shetland (348 days), East Lothian (342 days), Midlothian (328 days) and Stirling (316 days).

Perth & Kinross remains the local authority with the lowest average time in temporary accommodation (74 days). Aberdeenshire is the next lowest (76 days).

Average total time spent in temporary accommodation also varies by household type.

Chart 10: Households with children spend longer in temporary accommodation

Time households with and without children spent in temporary accommodation (for cases closed in 2023-24)

[To note: information about individuals within temporary accommodation placements is not available from the placement level data. Household type has therefore been derived from the information provided on the homelessness application. This accounts for the difference in the number of households with children compared to the snapshot data return.]

Chart 11: Households spend the longest, on average, in private sector lease and housing association accommodation

Average duration (days) in temporary accommodation, by type of accommodation (for cases that closed in 2023-24)

What about households that are still in temporary accommodation?

The time spent in temporary accommodation up to 31 March 2024 can also be calculated for homelessness cases that are still open.

Chart 12: Average time in temporary accommodation is longer for open cases than closed cases for all household types

Average total time (days) spent in temporary accommodation, for open and closed cases, by household type: 2023-24

How often do applicants refuse temporary accommodation?

A household can choose to refuse an offer of temporary accommodation made by the local authority. However, a household that has refused an offer of temporary accommodation may accept a subsequent offer.

In 2023-24, there were 6,775 cases of households refusing offers of temporary accommodation. This is a decrease of 370 (5%) compared to 2022-23. The largest numerical decrease was in Glasgow (from 2,280 to 1,905) and the largest numerical increases were in Aberdeen City (from 505 to 690) and West Lothian (40 to 165).

How often do local authorities fail to provide temporary accommodation?

A local authority is required to indicate when they do not offer temporary accommodation to a household and are therefore acting unlawfully. During 2023-24, there were 7,915 instances of households not being offered temporary accommodation. This is an extremely large increase compared to 450 in 2022-23, mainly due to Glasgow who reported less than 5 instances in 2022-23 and 6,260 in 2023-34. Glasgow have attributed this to increased demands on housing and homelessness services. Edinburgh’s figures increased from 420 to 1,515 over the same period.

How often do local authorities breach unsuitable accommodation legislation?

Between April 2023 and March 2024 there were 7,400 reported breaches of the unsuitable accommodation order (UAO) across twenty-five local authorities. This compares to 5,240 reported in 2022-23.

Glasgow had the largest number of breaches (2,990), followed by Edinburgh (1,525), Aberdeen city (540) and West Lothian (520). There were notable increases for Dumfries & Galloway (from 45 to 315) and Dundee City (from 45 to 230).