Number of children in TA has more than doubled since 2015
The number of households and children in temporary accommodation (TA) in Scotland reached a record-high in 2025-26.
As seen in the government’s latest homelessness figures, 19,004 households were in TA on 31 March 2026, up 10% from March 2025.
The number of children in TA was 10,715, an increase of 5% compared to the previous year and more than double the 2015 figure of 5,223.
Meanwhile, the average time spent in TA for cases that closed in 2025-26 was 237 days. This is three days less than 2024-25.
Gordon Llewellyn-MacRae, interim director at Shelter Scotland said: “Local authorities are under extreme pressure and are unlawfully turning people away who have a right to housing. That pressure is resulting in housing being weaponised with calls to roll back rights. It is utterly unacceptable.
“We know why it has happened- because we have failed to build enough social homes. The First Minister’s recent pledge to stop children being placed in harmful temporary accommodation is very welcome, showing he has listened to the demands of families. But we won’t celebrate just yet – promises mean nothing without action.”
Llewellyn-MacRae also urged the government to focus its new development agency More Homes Scotland on social housing, with the body due to start operating in April 2027.
Edinburgh was the local authority with the highest level of temporary accommodation use, with 74 households per 10,000 in TA, while Glasgow City had 223 households per 10,000 assessed as homeless.
Earlier this month, Scotland’s first minister promised to end the use of “unsafe and harmful” temporary accommodation for children as part of his programme for government 2026-2031.
The latest homelessness statistics follow Scotland’s housebuilding figures for 2025-26, which fell to the lowest level since the covid-19 pandemic.
No comments yet