Elected Member Briefing - Update on homelessness levels

About this briefing note

Report by: Elaine Ritchie, Senior Service Manager, Housing

Date: 2 February 2023

Subject: Update on homelessness levels

Responsible Officer: Martin Smith, Service Manager, Housing

Purpose

This briefing note will provide an update on the local situation re homelessness, following the Scottish Government's publication of its mid-year report Homelessness in Scotland: update to 30 September 2022. 

Briefing Information 

The Scottish Government this week published the information on homelessness in Scotland for the six-month period from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022, alongside historical data. 

The information shows national increases across all aspects of homelessness compared to the same period in 2021: 

• 19,066 applications (+6%) 
• 15,414 households assessed as homeless (+6%) 
• 28,944 open cases (+11%) 
• 14,458 households in temporary accommodation (+1%) 

There are a number of drivers for increases in homelessness or a deterioration in performance against key indicators.  These include a return to pre-pandemic levels of homelessness, a reduction in supply of settled accommodation across all sectors and cost of living pressures. 

The local approach to tackling homelessness 

Perth & Kinross Council is recognised nationally as a sector-leading local authority for our work on tackling and preventing homelessness, thanks to our innovative Home First approach. 

Home First is the Council's offer to people experiencing or threatened with homelessness. Home First was introduced in 2017 with the aim of providing a direct route for homeless people into settled accommodation, reducing the need for temporary accommodation and minimising the duration, impact, stigma, and cost of homelessness. 

In 2018, the Scottish Government instructed all local authorities in Scotland to produce a Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan -  with the main aim of moving to a rapid rehousing approach over a five-year period. Our early adoption of the Home First approach enabled Perth & Kinross Council to deliver a rapid rehousing model well before the target timescale of 2023/24. 

Home First is the only example of a fully developed rapid rehousing model being delivered in Scotland, and it has also been recognised by the Scottish Government as a leading example nationally. Since it was introduced:   

• Homelessness presentations have been reduced by 39% between 2017 and 2022 through a combination of effective prevention and tenancy sustainment interventions. 
• The number of people assessed as homeless and waiting for an offer of permanent accommodation has been reduced by 89% as at 31 March 2022. 
• The number of households in temporary accommodation has been reduced by 84% and for each of the last 3 years, we have had the lowest number of people in temporary accommodation in Scotland by population at the reporting point of 31st March. 
• The average length of stay in temporary accommodation was reduced from 160 days in 2015 to just 60 days in 2022 (the national average for 21/22 was 207 days). 

Latest statistics for Perth and Kinross 

The year to date since April 2022 has been one of the most challenging we have faced since launching Home First.  In line with other local authorities, we are seeing a post-pandemic increase in households presenting as homeless for the reasons mentioned above.   

In addition to demand pressures, we have also seen a significant reduction in the supply of permanent accommodation with a 35% reduction in available properties across the Common Housing Register partners.  The reasons for this reduction are complex but are primarily associated with reduced levels of new-build completions and tenants not wanting to move due to cost-of-living pressures and generally unfavourable economic conditions. 

The trends in the latest Scottish Government figures are also reflected locally, although we continue to perform well in the national context. 

The latest data shows that on September 20th 2022 Perth & Kinross Council had the second lowest number of live homelessness cases at 170 (0.05% of the national total). Only Shetland reported a lower number of live cases.  At the time of writing, we have reduced this to 135 cases with 43 of these already having an offer of permanent housing.  The Team are working hard to further reduce the backlog 

From April to September 2022, there was a 6% increase in presentations nationally compared to the same period in 2021. We reported a 7% increase for this period, so experienced roughly the same level of increase that other local authorities saw as we emerged from the pandemic and cost-of-living issues began to impact on people.  Demand pressures have however escalated since September 2022, and it is likely that our percentage increase will be higher than 7% by the end of March. Again, the Team are working hard to prevent homelessness where possible. 

One of the new demand pressures that we have experienced this year is a significant increase in presentations from non-UK nationals particularly from Romania and Poland.  The numbers are higher than they were pre-Brexit which is unexpected.  We are working with PKAVS Minority Communities Hub and other partners on this issue and have commissioned specialist training for the Team on Immigration, eligibility and associated issues. 

As of 30th September 2022, there were 14,458 households in temporary accommodation nationally which represents a 1% increase compared to the same date in 2021.   

We had 51 households in temporary accommodation on that date, which is reported in the recent Scottish Government publication as a 38% increase compared to the same date in 2021. It should be noted however that we only had 37 households in temporary accommodation in September 2021 so the increase is modest but is linked to the supply and demand pressures mentioned previously. 

Going forward 

We continue to focus on early intervention and the prevention of homelessness along with supporting tenancy sustainment to prevent people coming back into the homelessness system.  However, the current external pressures mentioned previously create a very difficult operating environment and it is possible that we will continue to see small increases in demand in the short-term.   

Our Home First model is agile and flexible meaning we can make adjustments to accommodate changes in demand or supply.  We are in a really strong position from which to respond to the current challenges.  We continue to facilitate sector-leading outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and despite the challenges and the progress already achieved, we remain focussed on further developing the Home First offer to provide an even better service.