Glasgow City Council spent more than £100m in homeless fight
The figures provide a snapshot of the first full year after a housing emergency was declared by Glasgow City Council in November 2023.
14,000 people living in Glasgow said they were homeless last year. (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire) Now, it has been revealed that a total of £106,416,979 was spent by the council in 2024 to keep up with the increased need for housing.
That is approximately 5.4% of the estimated £1.97b city budget in 2024/25.
Further figures revealed in The Herald on Saturday revealed that 8,383 people - including 3,154 children - were living in temporary accommodation as of June 9, 2025.
Additonally, 2,117 homeless people were living in a hotel or bed and breakfast (B&B).
During that time period, council officials spent £7,740,778 on housing the homeless in hotels and B&Bs.
However, the local authority turned away 753 people seeking accommodation between 1 May and 1 June, according to the figures, obtained by the Scottish Tenants' Organisation.
Leading homelessness charities have reacted to the findings with concern.
Gary Meek, CEO of housing association Blue Triangle, which operates four facilities in Glasgow, told The Herald:
'These figures reflect what we see every day — a housing system under immense pressure, and too many people in Glasgow stuck in temporary accommodation without a clear path forward.
Meek added: 'We're working closely with Glasgow City Council and other partners to expand supported housing and prevention services, but the scale of the crisis demands long-term investment and bold, joined-up action.
'Safe housing is a basic human right and we need to keep that at the heart of every decision.'
Similar figures were also recorded in other large Scottish local authorities over the last eighteen months.
South Lanarkshire Council spent £11,300,464 on securing temporary accommodation in 2024/25, while Falkirk Council paid out £3,169,412 during the same timeframe, and Perth and Kinross Council spent £1,863,906 between May 2024 and May 2025.
Similar sums were spent by Highland Council (£1,938,125.66 in 2024) and Renfrewshire Council (£913,377).
Aberdeen and City of Edinburgh Councils have yet to respond to requests for information.
Dealing with the housing crisis is a key challenge for the Scottish Government and new Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan.
New Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire) Gordon MacRae, Shelter Scotland Assistant Director Communications & Advocacy, has told The Herald the figures show the 'grim reality' of homelessness in Scotland's largest city.
He said: 'Shelter Scotland welcomes the council's decision to invest more in temporary accommodation rather than push more people onto the streets. But the sheer scale of this spending exposes the grim reality of Glasgow's housing emergency.
"With prevention services being cut, more people are being forced into the homelessness system. Glasgow City Council faces an impossible task without serious support from both the Scottish and UK governments.
"This is a massive amount of taxpayers' money - money that would be far better spent on social homes that offer safety, security, and affordability, giving people the opportunity to thrive.
Mr McRae went on to say that 'bold and radical action was needed,' adding: '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.
'Doing more is harder than doing less. Scotland's housing system is broken and biased. It didn't happen overnight, and there are no quick fixes, it is a direct consequence of political choices and repeated budget cuts. Politicians of all stripes need to step up and choose to end the housing emergency.'
Read more:
Ten per cent of Scottish women 'sexually assaulted at work'
People who live in poorer neighborhoods are 'more likely to die' from stroke
Ambulance waiting times for critically ill patients on rise in all 32 councils
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: 'We're duty bound to find and provide accommodation to those affected by homelessness. Unfortunately, in Glasgow, there is an ever-increasing demand for homeless accommodation. This increase in demand brings with it an increase in costs to the council.
'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.
'We continue to work with a range of partners to expand our emergency accommodation, and which will provide an alternative to bed and breakfast type accommodation.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
9 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Here's a toast to the Scots Word of the Week
This popular toast is recorded in full in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) as here's tae us; wha's like us? Damn few and they're aw deid. A slightly different version is recorded in The Times in December 1986: 'Here's tae us, Wha's like us, De'il the wan, an' they're a' deid'. DSL also notes several small variations such as fa's like us or gey few. Many of the newspaper examples listed in DSL are critical of the toast. In September 1999, the Mirror noted: 'That high opinion of Scottishness, typified by the arrogant saying 'Wha's like us? Damn few – and they're a' deid,' is fairly common among us.' Similarly, in February 2004, the Daily Mail said it 'represents the Scottish curse of denying or neglecting the great and gifted living among us'.
The National
9 hours ago
- The National
Protest organised against fence blocking access to Scottish harbour
A fence was installed on Burntisland harbour for 'public safety' reasons on the north side of the Firth of Forth after obtaining planning consent from Fife Council in 2022. This led to an outcry from locals, including an online petition which gained over 3000 signatures. The Burntisland Harbour Access Trust (BHAT) campaign group was then formed, who still continue to protest the fence and fight to restore public access to the harbour. READ MORE: Major rescue operation after man falls off cliff near Scottish holiday park The group said that they have received legal advice that indicates that Forth Ports 'acted illegally in barring the public from the harbour and breakwater' and that when presented with the lawyers report 'had failed to address the issue'. Now, BHAT has organised a protest march and rally in the town next weekend. Spokesperson Sandra Maguire told The Courier: 'Even now, people continue to gain access by any means possible. 'Recently fishermen have been taking their life in their hands by scaling a high fence set up by Forth Ports to deter access. 'This steel fence has been repeatedly opened up by the community who refuse to give up their right to access. 'In response, Fife Ports raised the height of the fence and erected a camera.' A spokesperson for Forth Ports said: 'The fence was installed around areas that were deemed high risk and ensures public safety within a working port. 'The measure still enables the people of Burntisland to safely walk through the port, avoiding these high risk areas. 'We continue to communicate with community representatives, local politicians, and other local stakeholders on matters relating to access at the Port of Burntisland.' The protest leaves the Beacon Centre in Burntisland at 11am on August 10.
Scotsman
11 hours ago
- Scotsman
Scotland's overall best universities, as students prepare for SQA results day
Across Scotland, thousands of students will soon be opening their exam results - and starting to make a solid plan for what will come next. SQA results day is now just days away, falling on Tuesday, August 5 this year. As Highers results roll in, so too will the outcomes of conditional university offers, for the many students hoping to use them as a springboard to launch themselves into the next step of their academic journey. Others, including those who applied after the deadline and those who didn't get the grades they might have hoped, will have another shot at being matched up with a university that works for them through the Clearing process. Fortunately for them, Scotland has no shortage of excellent universities, even when compared to others across the UK. With results day in mind, we've revisited The Guardian's latest university league table for 2025. This prestigious ranking gives most of the UK's 160-odd universities an overall score out of 100 based on a range of different metrics, including current student's satisfaction with both teaching and feedback, the school's staff-to-student ratio, how much money the institution spends per student, the average UCAS entry score for new starters, the percentage of first year students continuing on to their second year of study - and even graduate career prospects. We looked at how each of Scotland's universities fared, to create a useful guide for this year's upcoming cohort of university students. Our list is limited to institutions that achieved a score of more than 50 out of 100, according to The Guardian's metric. It is worth noting, however, that a few schools didn't appear in the overall rankings, which the paper says is due to not enough data being available. It's also important to remember that a low score overall doesn't mean that a university won't be a good place for you to study. Rankings can jump around year-on-year based on factors like extra funding - and even universities with lower overall rankings will often rank very highly for specific courses. Here were the Scottish universities that made the cut: 1 . University of St Andrews Taking out Scotland's top spot for 2025, this prestigious institution in St Andrews, Fife, is Scotland's oldest university - and is also thought to also be one of the oldest English-speaking universities in the world. It was ranked 2nd overall across the UK, with The Guardian giving it an exceptional score of 98.6 out of 100. | Peter Thompson/Photo Sales 2 . University of Aberdeen Another historic university, Aberdeen came in second place for Scotland, and was ranked 12th overall in the UK. The Guardian gave it a score of 73.3 out of 100. | UoA/Supplied Photo Sales 3 . University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow is Scotland's third highest-ranking university. It ranked 14th overall across the UK, with The Guardian giving it a score of 68.9 out of 100. | Fabian Bleh/Wirestock Creators/Adobe Stock Photo Sales 4 . University of Edinburgh Just behind it came the capital's namesake institution, which was ranked 15th overall in the UK. The Guardian gave it a score of 68.4 out of 100. | Adobe Stock Photo Sales
