Huge rise in homelessness in Inverclyde branded 'scandalous'

Inverclyde politician MSP Jamie Greene hit out at the Scottish Government for the increases and blamed their decision to cut £200million pounds of affordable housing funds.

At the same time frontline charities - including Children in Poverty Inverclyde - are warning of the devastating impact homelessness has on youngsters and the increasing desperation local families are facing.

According to the latest figures published by the Scottish Government, in the last two years More than 267 children were included in homelessness applications, compared with only 67 five years ago.

Pat Burke Children in Poverty (Image: Susan Lochrie)
Pat Burke, founder of Children in Poverty Inverclyde, which supports local frontline services, said: "The last six months our charity has seen a rapid increase in aid requests including beds, carpeting, clothing and food from homelessness organisations.

"Working in the community regularly, me and fellow trustees see first hand the terrible effects of being homeless on children. It can be harrowing.

"We are not a welfare charity but find it very difficult not to do our best to help out.

"It is my fervent hope that those responsible continue to strive to be better and reduce the current high numbers of both homelessness and child poverty.

"Otherwise, a section of our community and their children feel alienated and a rather dismal future with no hope for better."

In Inverclyde a total of 232 live homelessness cases were recorded this year which represents an increase of 102 per cent compared to 2023, which recorded 115 live cases.

Back in  2019/20 the number of children included in homeless applications was 67 and that is now 122, a rise of over 180 per cent, with the highest recorded 145 last year.

The alarming statistics also show that 72 households were recorded as living in temporary accommodation up until March 31 - a 41 per cent increase on 2023, when 21 households were living in temporary accommodation.

The figures also give an overall picture of homelessness in Inverclyde which shows that as of March 31  this year 45 people were living in temporary social housing accommodation, 20 were in the Inverclyde Centre hostel and ten were living in bed and breakfast.

West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene (Image: contributed) Mr Greene, of the Scottish Conservatives, says the SNP-led Scottish Government's £200m housing cuts has had a devastating impact on Inverclyde and has created the homelessness problem.

He said: “The rise in the levels of homelessness in Inverclyde are deeply concerning and nothing short of scandalous.

“The SNP took far too long to agree that there was a housing emergency across Scotland.

"The result is an increase of more than 100% in live homelessness cases in just one year. That number is huge and suggests something has gone badly wrong.

“Their disgraceful inaction has led to shocking levels of homelessness being recorded in Inverclyde.

“Most shockingly it is children who are often being impacted by being stuck in temporary accommodation which is wholly unsuitable to live in.

“These figures should be a wake-up call for SNP ministers to finally deliver the resources that will guarantee everyone in Inverclyde has a safe and permanent place to call home.”

Inverclyde Centre (Image: George Munro)
Homeless charity director Alison Watson said children are paying the highest price for the failures of government.

She said: "These figures clearly show that it is children in Scotland that are paying the highest price for politician’s failure to address the housing emergency.

“In Inverclyde, as in the rest of the country, the root cause of the housing emergency is a chronic shortage of social housing.

"Addressing that shortfall is the only meaningful way to tackle the housing emergency.

“Every level of government has contributed to allowing this housing emergency to reach such a disgraceful point, so politicians at every level of government have a duty to act.

“Our First Minister often tells us that ending child poverty is his guiding mission. But there is no way to achieve that goal while more and more children in Scotland are becoming homeless.

“If the Scottish Government is serious about tackling this housing emergency, it must set a meaningful target for delivering social homes by the end of this parliament, reverse the brutal cuts to the housing budget, and ensure that local homelessness services have the resources they need to do their jobs.”

Scottish Government Housing Minister Paul McLennan hit back saying they are supporting councils with record levels of funding for homelessness, as well building new affordable housing.

He said: “These figures are deeply concerning and I know the lack of a settled home seriously affects people’s health and life chances. 

"They demonstrate the scale of the challenge we face in tackling the housing emergency and I am determined to work with partners to reverse this trend.

"However, we must stop homelessness from happening in the first place and ensure affordable homes are available when people need them, we are taking action on both fronts."

Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership is currently undertaking a review of its homelessness services in recognition of the challenges they face.

With regards to children included in applications, Inverclyde HSCP say that they have one of the best records for keeping youngsters out of temporary accommodation. Read their full response here.