One in four people in Scotland (25%) has either been homeless themselves or had a close friend or family member who has been homeless, new polling from Ipsos has found.

In a new survey, commissioned by homelessness charity Crisis Scotland, Ipsos found 11% of people in Scotland have experienced homelessness, while a further 13% have a close friend or family member who has been homeless.

The polling was published as Crisis released its new campaign ahead of the next election, calling for every political party to make a manifesto commitment to end all forms of homelessness in Scotland by 2040, and enshrine this in law in the next parliament.

Releasing the new survey, the charity called for leaders from all parties to move away from short-term firefighting and instead embark on more strategic long-term plan, with a much clearer goal of ending all forms of homelessness in Scotland for good.

The new polling also showed widespread concern over levels of homelessness in Scotland, with one in four of those polled (25%) expressing concern that someone they care about becoming homeless within the next five years.

A further 16% said they were concerned they would personally become homelessness in the next five years.

The polling found 56% believe the Scottish Government is doing too little to tackle homelessness – a stronger sentiment among women (61%) than among men (51%).

Overall, 70% of those surveyed said they thought political parties should make ending homelessness a national priority. 

The poll found 81% of those who voted SNP in the 2021 election constituency vote agreed that ending homelessness should be a national priority for all parties, followed by 72% of both Scottish Labour and Scottish Lib Dem voters, and 66% of Conservatives.

It comes as Crisis launches its campaign ahead of the 2026 election, with a call for every party in Scotland to commit to ending all forms of homelessness by 2040 in their manifestos.

Launching its campaign on World Homelessness Day, the national charity for people experiencing homelessness urged politicians to move away from housing emergency focused “quick fixes” and instead adopt a more considered, long-term strategy, which delivers on a clear goal to end all forms of homelessness in Scotland by 2040.

By aligning this goal with the existing house building target for Scotland, the public will be much clearer on what to expect from the new government.

Alongside more housing, Crisis is calling for public services to better support people early, before they become homeless, and to give people more help to get out homelessness quickly when it does arise.

It has also urged policymakers to deliver on longer-term funding structures that brings homelessness levels in Scotland down. 

The polling also found more than half of respondents (53%) disagreed with the statement that ‘enough new affordable homes are being built in Scotland to help tackle the homelessness crisis’.

Ipsos’ survey was based in a survey of 1,050 adults aged 16+ across Scotland conducted online between 12^th and 22^nd September.

It comes after new official statistics showed rough sleeping levels in Scotland has risen by 28%, an all-time high, and with more than 17,000 households trapped in temporary accommodation, and more than 15,000 children growing up in homelessness.

Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and communications for Crisis Scotland, said: “This new polling shows how important action to end homelessness in Scotland is to voters, with seven in ten calling for tackling homelessness to be made a national priority.

“Scotland has strong rights for people who have been forced into homelessness – but more and more people are losing their homes every week.

“We know from our frontline services how damaging homelessness can be. People are being left trapped in temporary accommodation that is often totally unsuitable for their needs or forced to turn to friends or family for somewhere to sleep, or even to spend the night on the street.

“We will all have a choice at the election. We can sit back and watch as more people are forced to endure the trauma and indignity of homelessness, or we can act, to take the action needed to end it altogether.

“It’s time to move beyond quick fixes. With the right political will, Scotland can end all forms of homelessness by 2040, and make sure it doesn’t come back. We need every political party to back our campaign and help us build a Scotland where everyone has a safe, secure place to call home.”

 

Notes to Editor

For Crisis, Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,050 adults aged 16+ in Scotland using its online i:omnibus between 12^th and 22^nd September. The sample obtained is representative of the population with quotas on age, gender, region. The data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions for age within gender, and working status, region and education, to reflect the adult population of Scotland.

Subgroups cited in this release include reported party vote in the 2021 constituency vote: Scottish Conservative (n=159), Scottish Labour (n=163), Scottish Liberal Democrats (n=73), and Scottish National Party (n=357).