Local authority chief housing officers have warned ministers of a future raft of council homelessness emergencies while saying that a six-year-old Scottish Government initiative to end the problem is failing.
The Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers has lodged concerns after its study found that more than half of Scotland's 32 councils admitted they are failing to meet legal requirements to deal with the homelessness crisis in Scotland.
The red flag assessment carried out by the ALACHO which lays bare the state of the nation in dealing with the homeless, expresses concern that the Scottish Government has not declared a housing emergency.
The representative body for local authority housing in Scotland, in research carried out in November, said that the results show "widespread deterioration since May this year and a significant reduction in confidence when compared with the most challenging periods during the pandemic".
A traffic light system set out for the study found that 19 out of the 32 Scottish councils had registered a red flag on at least one of three key aspects of their services meaning they were "struggling to cope with regular statutory breaches". In November 2021 there were just five.
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Now ALACHO has warned ministers that their findings suggest that Scotland is likely to see more housing emergencies declared in the coming months - in the wake of pronouncements by Glasgow, Edinburgh and Argyll and Bute.
Fife Council has stated it is on the brink of a declaration.
In 2018, the Scottish Government outlined how it will become a “world leader” in ending homelessness and rough sleeping with an action plan.
The End Homelessness Together Action Plan set out measures for national and local government and the third sector to meet when providing frontline services by prioritising settled housing for all and responding quickly whenever homelessness happens.
The End Homelessness Together Action Plan set out measures for national and local government and the third sector to meet when providing frontline services.
In a briefing to ministers, ALACHO has warned that "there can be no doubt plans to End Homelessness Together are going in the wrong direction despite the significant focus and effort by local authorities and their partners to deliver Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans."
The group said that there is general consensus that the shortage of housing supply in the country is contributing to the growing number of people experiencing homelessness in various ways.
"There has to be a focus on increasing short term housing supply as the primary response to reducing homelessness and improving outcomes for homeless households," said ALACHO, stressing that more needs to be done to ensure that everyone in Scotland has access to safe and stable housing.
"The significant message from the sector is that any threat to the delivery and supply of new social and wider affordable, secure housing options is going to undermine efforts to prevent and end homelessness. The consequence will inevitably be that more households face longer stays in temporary accommodation and homelessness will become a housing option rather than the safety net it is intended to be.
"Local authorities are already recognising a level of migration from mainstream housing lists to homelessness due to lack of prospects or inability to wait or sustain accommodation arrangements."
The ALACHO study found that 12 out of Scotland's 32 councils (37.5%) assessed all key aspects of their service as “red”. In November 2021, there were just two.
The current triple red flag authorities are Aberdeen, Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.
A further three (9.75%) of councils reported red flags on two out of three - Dundee, South Lanarkshire and Stirling.
Only Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, covering the Western Isles said it was confident of meeting all its duties all the time.
The three key aspects surveyed involved the supply of suitable and useable temporary accommodation in the light of current demand, the ability to meet the legal requirements to not place the homeless in 'unsuitable' homes and the ability to supply permanent lets.
The Scottish Tenants Organisation said that the failure by the Scottish Government to declare a national housing emergency was "sentencing" tens of thousands of people stuck on social housing waiting lists and thousands who are homeless to " miserable lives of penury and destitution".
STO campaign co-ordinator Sean Clerkin added: "This cannot be allowed to happen and instead all local authorities must be given the monetary resources by the Scottish and UK governments to deal effectively with the national housing and homeless emergency instead of the out of touch Scottish SNP and Green Government denying that there is such a national emergency."
It comes after Scotland's housing regulator launched a local authorities intervention over what they declared as a "systemic failure" in dealing with a homelessness crisis in Scotland.
The body which has powers to protect tenants rights has set engagement plans for two of Scotland's biggest councils, Glasgow City Council and the City of Edinburgh Council, which both have declared emergencies.
The regulator has said "added urgency" is needed from the Scottish Government to bring forward measures to respond to the challenges councils are now experiencing.
The regulator said that "systemic failure requires a systemic intervention that is beyond our regulatory powers".
Scotland's biggest city has turned away hundreds of people classed as homeless in the first nine months of last year in an apparent law breach.
Some 518 of over 600 people who were not immediately able to be housed even in temporary accommodation after being classed as homeless this year in Scotland were in Glasgow.
The council had recorded just three instances of homeless people seeking emergency accommodation being turned away in the previous two years - 2021 and 2022.
Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “We recognise these are exceptionally challenging times and we are working with local authorities to ensure no one is turned away when they need help.
“Despite cuts to our budget from the UK Government, we are providing councils with £30.5 million annually for their work to prevent homelessness and £100 million from our multi-year Ending Homelessness Together fund, in addition to funding through the local government settlement. I have also regularly met with representatives from Scotland’s local authorities and have actively engaged with them to find solutions to help address housing pressures in their area.
“We will invest £556 million in affordable housing next year to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including supporting acquisitions of existing properties. In addition, we are accelerating work with the financial community in Scotland, and elsewhere, to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes.”
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