Crisis Scotland calls for homeless prevention to be prioritised, weeks after the First Minister committed to end homelessness for everyone. 

Homelessness in Scotland remains high and at record levels in many areas, with failure in the homeless system being evident, particularly in the high use of temporary accommodation and those waiting for homelessness cases to be resolved, the highest since records began.  
 
Homelessness rose across every key measure in Scotland in 2025/26, according to Scottish Government figures published today. 41,443 households applied to their council as homeless.
 
The data shows: 

• 19,004 households were living in temporary accommodation on 31 March 2026, up 10% and the highest since records began in 2002, including a record 10,715 children.  

• 34,964 households were still waiting for their homelessness case to be resolved, up 10% on last year and the highest recorded. 

• 2,949 households reported that someone had slept rough the night before they asked for help, up by a fifth.
• Councils recorded 21,800 instances of failing to offer temporary accommodation to a household legally entitled to it, an increase of a third since this time last year.  
• 2,005 households, nearly 5% of all applications, became homeless straight from prison, hospital or a children's residential placement: exactly the moments the new prevention duties are designed to reach

Maeve McGoldrick, Head of Policy and Communications at Crisis Scotland, said: 

"The statistics out today remain stubbornly high, and we predict they will continue in this way unless radical action is taken urgently to bring about meaningful change. Behind these figures are people of every age and every circumstance: children growing up without a home of their own, people sleeping rough on our streets tonight, and adults who have lost a home with nowhere else to go. Homelessness is the most acute form of poverty, whoever it affects.” 

"We know the best way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place. We call on Government to urgently plan for bringing the new homeless prevention laws into practice. This, alongside a bold financial commitment in the upcoming budget to invest meaningfully in homelessness prevention is the only way we'll see a reversal of the figures out today." 

“The Government made a strong commitment in recent weeks to end homelessness for everyone. Today’s figures show the urgency of that task. People currently experiencing homelessness need help today, but to get homelessness levels in Scotland back under control, our public services need to be working together to prevent homelessness from arising tomorrow.”

ENDS

Notes to editors 

• Homelessness in Scotland 2025/26 was published by the Scottish Government on 22^nd September and covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Figures in this release are taken from that publication, and comparisons are with 2024/25 unless stated. 
• In 2024/25 there were 40,688 homelessness applications and 34,067 households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness. On 31 March 2025, 17,240 households were living in temporary accommodation, including 10,180 children. 
• The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 became law on 6 November 2025. It introduces new duties to prevent homelessness, extending council duties to people up to six months from losing their home, compared with two months now, and requiring relevant public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation and act to prevent homelessness. The Scottish Government expects the duties to be in place by November 2028. 
• The Programme for Government 2026 to 2031, published on 1 September 2026, includes a £50 million Homelessness Prevention Fund over ten years, support for councils to deliver 1,500 Housing First tenancies over five years, and a commitment to end the use of unsafe and harmful temporary accommodation for children.