Homeless children spent almost one million days in temporary
accommodation last year, housing campaigners have said. Shelter Scotland deputy
director Alison Watson branded the figure "staggering" and insisted
it is "simply not good enough".
The housing and homeless charity has published new datashowing Scotland's councils provided homeless households with an estimated 3.8
million days of temporary accommodation in 2014-15 There were an average of
10,302 households in Scotland in temporary accommodation - which can be in a
bed and breakfast, hostel or local authority property - on any one night. The
figures showed a quarter of the households were families with children, with an
average of 4373 youngsters in temporary accommodation on any given night. The
charity has now raised concerns over "whether the best use is being made
of this expensive resource".
A report from Shelter Scotland said: "For thousands of
households every year this provision provides an important safety net in times
of crisis. However, the average time spent in so-called temporary accommodation
is 23 weeks, with one in ten households spending over a year there This
suggests that local authorities can struggle to move on households that have a
right to settled, permanent accommodation in a timely manner."
The charity wants 12,000 affordable homes to be built each
year over the next five years to drive down the need for temporary
accommodation.
No comments:
Post a Comment