COUNCILS in Scotland are asking homeless people to move to England due to a lack of accommodation, Shelter has warned.
The claim from the charity came as grim new statistics revealed that there were 35,230 applications for homelessness assistance made in 2021-22, a 3 per cent increase from the year before.
8,635 children are currently stuck in temporary accommodation, up 17% on last year and the highest number on record.
Shelter said the figures showed that the homelessness system in Scotland was on the "brink of failure" and that the country was "unable to provide for the most basic of human rights."
The housing organisation said that their clients in central Scotland had been asked to move hundreds of miles to the Highlands or the north of England because there were not enough homes "to support the unprecedented number of people in the homelessness system."
They have warned that the numbers are only likely to get worse in the months ahead, as the cost of living crisis hits.
Alison Watson, Director of Shelter Scotland said: "When I learned that councils were asking our clients to leave jobs and family in the central belt to take up accommodation in England, I did a double take.
"Surely it has not come to this; that today in Scotland we appear unable to provide for the most basic of human rights, the right to a safe home.
"Scotland was in the grip of a housing emergency before the pandemic hit.
"The political will to get people off the streets showed what can be done but instead of pushing on and finishing the job of getting people a permanent home, we have gone backwards.
“Homelessness today is no longer characterised by people sleeping on the streets. Instead, it is children trapped, sometimes for years, in temporary accommodation.
"Accommodation, which is often damp, miserable, and completely unsuitable for anybody much less a child.
"These statistics show that with more people becoming homeless, more people stuck in the system for longer and more people likely to become homeless as the cost of living crisis bites, Scotland’s homelessness system is now on the brink of failure. "
Ms Watson urged First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon to lead a new "national initiative to ensure every council has the homes they need and to guarantee the legal rights of everyone in Scotland to a safe home if they find themselves homeless.”
Responding to the figures, Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: "These statistics remind us why our commitment to prevent and end homelessness is so important, and show us that we still have work to do.
“While it is encouraging that rough sleeping is at its lowest level in 20 years and repeat homelessness is at a ten-year low, I am deeply concerned at the increase in the number of children in temporary accommodation.
"This is especially disappointing as 20 local authorities are managing to reduce the use of temporary accommodation."
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