Homelessness in Scotland: update to 30 September 2024

Outcomes

Key Points

• 5% increase in cases closed.
• 82% of unintentionally homeless cases secured settled accommodation as an outcome. This is the same as 2023.

Homelessness cases are closed once the local authority has fulfilled its statutory duty or contact has been lost with the applicant household for 28 days. Local authorities provide information on the circumstances and outcomes of homelessness cases once they have been closed.

Cases closed

Over the six-month period in 2024, there were 20,345 homelessness applications closed. This is an increase of 5% compared to 2023. Of those, 16,368 related to households assessed as unintentionally homeless.

Lost contact

Contact was maintained for most households assessed as unintentionally homeless (96%, the same as last year) and intentionally homeless (96%, compared to 93% in 2023, although bearing in mind these are based on relatively small numbers).

Outcomes

Of the 15,695 unintentionally homeless cases that closed in the six-month period (where contact was maintained and the outcome known), 82% secured settled accommodation. This is the same as in 2023.

Settled accommodation here is defined as a local authority tenancy, a tenancy with a registered social landlord or a private rented tenancy.

Local authority tenancy and registered social landlord accommodation account for the vast majority of outcomes for homeless households

Chart 7: Outcomes for households assessed as unintentionally homeless or threatened with homelessness, April to September 2024

The proportion of intentionally homeless households securing settled accommodation decreased from 44% to 42%.  However, these are based on relatively small numbers and are therefore susceptible to natural fluctuation.

For cases that closed between April and September 2024, it took an average of 273 days from assessment to case closure. This was a decrease from 275 between April and Spetember 2023 and 283 between October 2023 and March 2024.

Housing support assessments

Upon closing a homelessness case, local authorities are required to assess whether any housing support services are required by the household for any cases assessed as unintentionally homeless and where it has reason to believe that support would be beneficial. It also has a duty to provide that support if needed.

Across Scotland, assessments for housing support needs were carried out in 80% of cases where there was a duty to assess between April and September 2024. Support was provided for 39% of all cases, although support was not provided for 4% who were identified as needing it. In 20% of cases where there was a duty to assess, no assessment took place and no support was provided.