Glasgow legal dispute fear as 700 homeless refused housing
That is 4,126 households, with 2,117 homeless people living in a hotel of bed and breakfast (B&B).
However, it can also be revealed that 753 homeless people were refused accommodation by Glasgow City Council between April 1 and June 1.
Officials in Glasgow spent a total of £7,740,778 on housing the homeless in hotels and B&Bs.
Glasgow City Council has also admitted it breached the unsuitable accommodation order 1,465 times between January 1 and June 9 this year, with all of these concerning the 'unsuitable' use of hotels and B&Bs.
In the first six months of this year, 567 reported rough sleeping the night before, or three month prior to seeking help from Glasgow City Council. It is likely to be higher as it relies on self-reporting.
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Simon Community Scotland (SCS), a charity engaging with rough sleepers in the city, reported another 119 people on the streets this year.
Sean Clerkin, campaign co-ordinator for the Scottish Tenants' Organisation, told The Herald: 'The disastrous state of homelessness in Glasgow is laid bare for all to see in these figures which should shame Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government.
'The fact that Glasgow City Council breaks the law wantonly refusing to give emergency accommodation to 753 homeless people, while 686 have slept rough on the streets of Scotland's largest city this year shows the extent of human misery being caused during this housing emergency.
'Glasgow's social housing budget of just over £115 million for 2025-26 is lower than the same housing budget in 2021-22. This is unacceptable.'
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The Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency, following a dozen councils including Glasgow and Edinburgh, in May last year.
Mr Clerkin added: 'The Scottish Government led by the new housing secretary Mairi McAllan has got to make Glasgow a special case and give a massive cash injection now to Glasgow City Council to build thousands of new social rented homes in the city to remove the shame of record numbers of homeless people being left in Dickensian destitution."
Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland, said: "This is the devastating reality of the housing emergency in Scotland and these figures expose the grim reality of Glasgow.
"With prevention services being cut, thousands of children are being forced into the homelessness system and a large amount of taxpayer's money is being spent to cover B&B and hotel accommodation – all while Glasgow City Council continue to break the law. This cannot carry on.
'With a sheer lack of social housing, the Council does face an impossible task without serious support from both the Scottish and UK governments.
"Everyone deserves a safe, secure and affordable place to call home.
'That's why we need bold, radical action: more investment from the Scottish Government in social housing, the purchase of larger homes for larger families, and stronger backing from the UK Government must all be part of the plan.'
In January, it was revealed that Glasgow City Council receives around 200 legal threats each month for refusing emergency accommodation or providing unsuitable temporary homes.
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: 'We're duty bound to find and provide emergency accommodation to those affected by homelessness. Unfortunately, the increasing demand for homeless accommodation in Glasgow means there are times when we haven't been able to do so. This happens when there is no accommodation available despite using more than 50 hotels to accommodate those who we have a duty for.
'We purchase a high number of hotel and bed & breakfast accommodation as we attempt to meet the extraordinarily high demand for accommodation to avoid people having to sleep rough. We also use in excess of 2600 places of emergency accommodation within temporary furnished flats and supported accommodation.
'There is no quick alternative. We are in continual dialogue with both Governments about these challenges and to seek the additional resources necessary to address the challenges we are facing.'
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: 'Having a safe, warm and affordable place to call home is critical to a life of dignity and opportunity. We are determined that everyone in Scotland should have that and so are focussed on tackling the housing emergency head on. This is essential to ensure everyone, and in particular our children, have the opportunity to thrive and we are focussed on delivering that real change.
'We are making available £115.565 million in Glasgow to support the delivery of more social and affordable homes, which includes more than £11.9 million targeted for acquisitions and voids. This takes our investment in affordable housing to £768 million across Scotland.
'We recognise that Glasgow has come under additional and unique housing pressure following the previous UK Government's decision to streamline asylum process over a short period of time with no additional resource. This has shifted an unreasonable burden onto local authorities and the Home Office must urgently provide financial support.'
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