10. Homelessness & Housing Support - 2024-25 - Report
Renfrewshire Council · 13 May 2025
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 13 May 2025 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 13 May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Homelessness & Housing Support – 2024-25 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report provides the Policy Board with a summary of the homeless and housing support pressures across Renfrewshire during 2024/25 and the measures that have been taken to address the increase in homelessness in recent years and the associated increase in demand for housing support. 1.2 An update on progress with the implementation of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan for Renfrewshire (RRTP), and the Scottish Government funding which has been received to assist with its implementation is also provided, along with a summary of performance in key areas and the issues / challenges that are likely to be faced this year. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities and Housing Policy Board: 2.1 Note the continuing local and national pressures that have led to the increase in homeless applications and demand for housing support and the impacts these increases are currently having and may have in the future. 2.2 Note the measures being taken by the Council and partners to mitigate the impacts of these pressures. _________________________________________________________
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3. Background 3.1 As previously reported to the Policy Board, the annual number of statutorily homeless households in Renfrewshire generally remained consistent and tended to be within the 750 – 850 range up until 2021. 3.2 There has however been a steady, stepped increase in homeless applications since 2020/21, with the annual number of applications in both 2023/24 and 2024/25 exceeding 1,000 as set out in Table 1, below: Table 1 – annual number of homeless applications Year Total annual number of homeless applications in Renfrewshire 2024/25 1027 2023/24 1026 2022/23 935 2021/22 909 2020/21 834 2019/20 874 2018/19 849 2017/18 860 2016/17 777 2015/16 843 2014/15 838 3.3 The Policy Board has been provided with regular updates throughout the past two years, which have detailed the reasons behind the increase in homelessness and the more recent social housing pressures, which all largely stem from the impacts during the COVID recovery years, pressures arising from the cost-of-living crisis, the impact of the various migration and asylum humanitarian programmes, a general slowing down in the turnover rate of social rented housing particularly in some RSLs, pressures in the private rented sector and the impact in Renfrewshire since the suspension of the ‘local connection’ criteria for homeless applicants in December 2022. 3.4 Whilst the number of homeless applications has steadily increased, the most common reasons given for becoming homeless remain the same, which are ‘asked to leave’ and ‘relationship breakdown (non-violent)’ which together account for over half of all applications in Renfrewshire.
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3.5 Local authorities across Scotland continue to experience significant pressures in meeting the demand for social housing and there remains clear evidence nationally of rising homeless presentations, record numbers in temporary accommodation and increasing waiting times for those in housing need. 3.6 Renfrewshire continues to experience higher levels of homelessness and demand for housing support in line with this national trend, and it is clear that our Homeless and Housing Support Services and partners will continue to face significant challenges in providing both temporary and permanent accommodation for everyone in housing need on a timely basis, and providing the support they require, in line with our statutory duties. 3.7 This mirrors the national picture with the Scottish Government’s declaration of a National Housing Emergency in May 2024, and 13 local authorities who have declared local housing emergencies. Whilst the challenges are significant and are likely to remain so, there are still some positive performance indicators for Renfrewshire in terms of how the changes in the nature and scale of homelessness are being tackled, which are covered within this report. 4. Lets to those who are homeless 4.1 An increase in the number / proportion of general lets to those who are statutorily homeless by the Council and RSLs has been an important factor in recent years in meeting the needs of those who are statutorily homeless within a reasonable time and minimise the use of hotels / Bed & Breakfast as temporary accommodation. See table 2, below. Table 2 - number / proportion of lets via Group system to homeless applicants Year No. of Council lets to homeless % of Council general lets to homeless No. of RSL lets to homeless % of RSL general lets to homeless Total Council and RSL lets to homeless 2019/20 362 33 % 138 21 % 490 2020/21 245 49 % 164 32 % 409 2021/22 368 43 % 172 24 % 540 2022/23 316 41 % 169 26 % 485 2023/24 390 55 % 183 37 % 573 2024/25 451 52% 207 39 % 658 4.2 The Policy Board approved a recommendation in March 2024 that the target for lets to the Statutory Homeless Group would increase from 49% in 2023/24 to 55% for 2024/25.
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4.3 The total number of Council lets to homeless applicants in 2024/25 was 451, which is the highest number since our Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan was launched in 2019/20. 4.4 This strong focus on lets to homeless applicants has supported the effort to minimise both the use of hotels / B&B as a form of temporary accommodation and the length of time people are without settled accommodation. 4.5 Whilst the target of 55% of Council lets to homeless applicants in 2024/25 was not quite met, the increase in the number of actual lets from the Council from 362 in 2019/20 to 451 in 2024/25, and RSL lets from 138 in 2019/20 to 207 in 2024/25 has significantly helped to ensure those in housing need were provided with settled housing as early as possible. 4.6 This has helped to ensure that the average length of time to complete duty has remained at around 22 weeks, which has consistently been better than the national average. 4.7 The target of 55% for Council lets to homeless applicants has been retained for 2025/26 and will be monitored throughout the year. 5. Temporary accommodation 5.1 As would be expected, the demand for temporary accommodation has substantially increased in line with the increase in homeless applications, and as a response the stock of temporary accommodation has similarly been increased, as detailed in Table 3, below. Table 3 – temporary accommodation stock No. Temporary accommodation type Landlord No of flats – April 2019 No. of flats – April 2025 1 Individual furnished flats across Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Council 116 156 2 Staffed accommodation at Gallowhill and Thrushcraigs Renfrewshire Council 33 33 3 Individual furnished flats across Renfrewshire Various RSL’s 24 39 4 Supported accommodation Williamsburgh HA, Paisley HA, Sanctuary HA, Renfrewshire Council 53 53 TOTAL NUMBER OF FLATS 226 281
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5.2 This planned increase in temporary accommodation has helped to ensure that the use of hotel / B&B as temporary accommodation has been minimised, and in particular has ensured that those homeless households with children are provided with furnished temporary accommodation in the community. Children living in temporary accommodation. 5.3 The most recently published Scottish Government statistics show that the number of children living in temporary accommodation in Renfrewshire at the end of September 2024 was 30, from across 20 different households. The figure for 31 March 2025 was 28 children across 16 households. 5.4 The same figure for September 2023 was 45 children living in temporary accommodation, which in itself was a reduction from the 60 children in temporary accommodation at the end of September 2022. 5.5 This reduction in the snapshot number of children staying in temporary accommodation between 2023 and 2024 is in comparison to a national increase of 5% in the same time period, and our reduction in the total number of children in temporary accommodation (which has always been low compared to other Councils) is despite the continuous high overall number of homeless applicants requiring temporary accommodation. Renfrewshire’s approach to ensuring the availability of good quality early housing options advice is helping many families prevent homelessness, which is reflected in the lower than average numbers of children in temporary accommodation compared to many other Councils. 5.6 One of the other key areas of media focus associated with this issue has been the number of children living in temporary accommodation which is hotel / B&B. Across Scotland, there were 420 children living in B&B accommodation on 30 Sept 2024, an increase from 130 in September 2023. 5.7 In Renfrewshire, we only ever use self-contained furnished flats as temporary accommodation for homeless households with children – no child is ever placed into a hotel/B&B. Rent charging policy for temporary accommodation 6.1 The introduction of the new rent charging policy from April 2025 was approved by the Policy Board in January 2025. This provides an updated framework that the Council can use for the charging of rent and service charges to homeless households for the provision of furnished accommodation. 6.2 The new policy will also assist the Council to meet the needs of those who have nowhere to stay whilst fully reflecting the increase in costs in recent years and help ensure rent and service charges for furnished temporary accommodation are set at an affordable level for all and allow the Council to continue to provide good quality furnished accommodation for those in housing need.
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6.3 The Policy Board will be provided with an annual update on performance relating to these new temporary accommodation charges. Impact of migration / resettlement programmes 7.1 As previously reported, Renfrewshire has a strong track record in terms of supporting people who have come to live and settle in the area through different humanitarian programmes or routes, such as the resettlement schemes for Syrian and Afghan nationals and those displaced from Ukraine. 7.2 The Council, HSCP and partners have all played key roles in supporting people who arrived in Renfrewshire over the last 3 years and there have now been a significant number of social rented tenancies provided to Ukrainian Displaced Persons by the Council and Registered Social Landlords as well as UDP households being supported to access private rented sector tenancies or to live with ‘hosts’. 7.3 The total number of UDP households living in the community, with a ‘host’ or in their own tenancy in Renfrewshire is now 217 households (505 individuals), and it is anticipated that moving forward there will be a demand for more accommodation from Scottish local authorities for those being resettled via the UK Government’s Afghanistan Resettlement Programme. 7.4 As regards those seeking asylum, more people are now being served with positive decisions whilst being accommodated in hotels across the UK, and whilst this is positive for the individuals concerned, this has led to an increase in the numbers of people then presenting as homeless and / or seeking support and who are entitled to be provided with temporary accommodation and the right to apply for a social rented tenancy. 7.5 There have been 74 homeless applications in Renfrewshire from former asylum seekers in the last 12 months - the annual number of applications for previous years had been in single figures. This figure includes those former asylum seekers who had been living in surrounding areas presenting as homeless in Renfrewshire, as is their right. Private rented sector 8.1 Measures which have been in place nationally to protect tenants living in the private rented sector (PRS) has initially limited the number of homeless applications from those leaving that sector over the last few years. 8.2 In late 2021, three frontline posts were temporarily established to enhance access to support, housing options advice, advocacy for tenants in the private rented sector and the enforcement of regulations related to private landlords. 8.3 The officers in these temporary roles have successfully built strong and effective connections across Council services, improving collaboration and information sharing between support services, housing options, advocacy, and enforcement teams.
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8.4 As a result, updated and more effective procedures and referral pathways have been implemented and are now well-integrated across Council services. 8.5 There are still two of these temporary posts still in place for 2025/26, after which it is anticipated that the responsibilities can be incorporated into the wider homeless and housing support teams as part of a ‘business as usual’ approach 9. Housing Support 9.1 The Housing Support service continues to experience high referral volumes, with 1,196 new referrals received during 2024/25 – an average of 100 per month. This represents a significant increase over the past few years. 9.2 The primary sources of referrals come from Homeless Services, local Housing Teams, Social Work and Addiction Services, Registered Social Landlords, Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and similar community advocacy services. 9.3 The Housing Support team is now supporting over 450 individuals at any one time, in temporary accommodation, their own tenancies or within the Private Rented Sector, with support being provided directly by the team or via commissioned specialist support providers. 9.4 The range of initiatives in collaboration with third-sector providers across Renfrewshire continues to expand, and includes: WRAP Service – Developed in partnership with Blue Triangle Housing Association to provide wraparound support in line with the Housing First model. Mental Health Support – commissioned via RAMH Tailored ‘floating’ support – Turning Point Scotland now provides flexible support based on low, medium, and high levels of need. Plans are in place to work with support provider(s) in 2025/26 to develop a pilot project that seeks to help those whose settled housing may be at risk due to issues with gambling. 9.5 A new initiative called MyLA (My Life Ahead) for individuals and families living in Renfrewshire whose daily lives were impacted by drug and alcohol use and who would benefit from support to sustain/access settled housing was launched in 2022 using funding from the Alcohol & Drug Commission Programme Board. MyLA provides enhanced housing support to some of the most complex, challenging, and vulnerable people within Renfrewshire, who can at times be hard to reach.
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The service has worked with partners across Renfrewshire including, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership, ADRS, RCA Trust, local and national housing providers as well as a broad range of voluntary organisations. Referrals were received directly from clients or from friends and family members of vulnerable people who are struggling in the community due to drugs and or alcohol. A’ Complex Cases Working Group’ was established with membership including representatives from Housing Support, Addictions Services, and Mental Health Services. This group is now well established and has become a highly effective example of partnership working developing staff knowledge and understanding of the challenges MyLA service users are facing. To date, 89 people have received support from the MyLA service, with strong evidence of service users reporting a reduction in alcohol and drug use, improved access to health care, reduction in anti-social behaviour complaints, improved income maximisation and reduction in rent arrears, which are all combining to help sustain the MyLA service users housing situation. Case Study 1 – CM “MyLA staff noticed that X’s injecting sites were abscessed and extremely inflamed. X was displaying a high temperature and had trouble breathing. MyLA worker advised CM to present at A&E immediately. CM refused to attend A&E and continued to be resistant however staff persevered highlighting the risks of further infection. X agreed to present at A&E and was diagnosed with Sepsis, a result of bad injecting practises. CM was admitted to hospital and was placed on a high dose of intravenous anti-biotics”. The MyLA service is currently the subject of an independent assessment / evaluation, and the lessons learned to date are being incorporated / mainstreamed within the Council’s Housing Support team. The Complex Cases Working Group that was established with key partners continues to review and agree actions to support those whose daily lives are impacted by drug and alcohol use and require support to help them sustain or access settled housing. 10. Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan for Renfrewshire 10.1 Progress with the implementation of Renfrewshire’s initial 5-year Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) 2019 – 2024 has been regularly reported to the Policy Board, and our RRTP has supported the upscaling of a Housing First approach to support those who are homeless from 13 at any one time in 2019 to 87 by April 2025, as well as minimising the time those who are homeless have to spend in temporary accommodation, and supporting a stepped increase in the number of lets to homeless applicants from the Council and RSL’s.
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10.2 An announcement of further funding from the Scottish Government to support the delivery of RRTPs for a further year in 2025/26 is anticipated soon and is understood to be along the same lines as previous years. If, as expected, this level of funding is in line with that awarded in the previous six years, this will allow the continuation of established initiatives which have been detailed in previous Policy Board reports and are in line with the RRTP guidance: temporary frontline posts which focus on resettling homeless applicants transitioning from temporary accommodation to new tenancies, Upscaling and developing the Housing First approach both in-house with our Housing Support team and with partners such as Turning Point Scotland and Blue Triangle Housing Association. 10.3 Statistics on homelessness performance across all Scottish local authorities in 2024/25 will not be published by the Scottish Government until later in 2025, however an initial internal analysis of key statistics for Renfrewshire indicates that: Renfrewshire experienced a 10% increase in homeless applications in 2023/24 against a 4% increase nationally, however the number of applications in 2024/25 has remained almost exactly the same as 2023/24. The average length of time spent in temporary accommodation for all homeless households in Renfrewshire in 2023/24 was 114 days, compared to a national average of 226 days. The figure for 2024/25 will not be published until later this year, however it is anticipated it will be much the same as the previous year. No households with children in Renfrewshire were placed in B&B accommodation. The average length of time for the Council to complete duties towards those who are statutorily homeless (the length of time people are homeless) was 22 weeks in 2024/5, again, no change from 2023/24. As highlighted in paragraph 4.5, the number of homeless households moving into a social housing tenancy in Renfrewshire increased from 573 in 2023/24, to 658 in 2024/25. A full report summarising all benchmarking information on homelessness will be provided to the Policy Board later this year once these are published by the Scottish Government.
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11. Housing (Scotland) Bill, 2024 11.1 A new Housing Bill was published by the Scottish Government in March 2024 which aims to, amongst other things, help prevent homelessness. 11.2 It is proposed that the Housing (Scotland) Bill will introduce an ‘ask and act’ duty on public bodies, such as health boards, Police Scotland and RSL’s to ask about a person’s housing situation and act to avoid them becoming homeless wherever possible. The Bill also seeks to reform provision for people threatened with homelessness up to six months ahead of them having nowhere to stay (currently, local authorities can consider homeless applications up to 2 months ahead of settled accommodation being likely to be lost). 11.3 There is a degree of concern that the provisions in the Bill may lead to an increase in referrals for help, advice, information and temporary accommodation to local authorities homeless teams, and the provisions are currently at Stage 2 of the scrutiny process at the Scottish Parliament to become an Act - along with other areas covered by the Bill including proposal for provisions for tenants experiencing domestic abuse and a New Deal for Tenants which includes long term rent controls for private tenancies. 11.4 A report on all the new duties will be provided to a future Policy Board meeting once the Bill becomes an Act. 12. Summary 12.1 The demand for homeless and housing support services remains high. Whilst there may appear to be the first signs that the recent regular annual increases in homeless applications have plateaued, the number of homeless applications in Renfrewshire in April was high, and this is something that will be closely monitored and reported on during 2025/26. 12.2 Whilst the performance of all Scottish local authorities on key indicators relating to homelessness is not published until later this year, the areas where it has been possible to provide comment on suggest that Renfrewshire will continue to generally compare well with other Scottish local authorities. 12.3 The increase in both the stock of temporary accommodation and number of lets to homeless applicants, along with the deployment of additional temporary frontline post have all helped considerably in ensuring that the Council and partners continue to respond positively and promptly to those in housing need during the current pressures on social rented housing across Scotland.
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12.4 Renfrewshire’s RRTP and the continued funding from the Scottish Government helps to ensure the continued strong focus on: providing suitable temporary accommodation, giving the support that’s needed to those who are homeless, and transitioning homeless applicants from temporary to settled accommodation as quickly as possible. 12.5 The Policy Board will continue to receive regular updates, particularly when national statistics are published, the Housing Bill becomes law, and the impacts of the new Housing Act in relation to homeless prevention become known. _________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – None. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None. 3. Community/Council Planning – Our Renfrewshire is fair - those who are homeless will be provided with housing options. Building strong, safe and resilient communities – meeting the needs of those who are homeless and providing access to settled housing helps to support communities. Tackling inequality, ensuring opportunities for all – those who are in housing need will be provided with settled housing options. Working together to improve outcomes – we will be working with partners to improve outcomes for those in housing need. 4. Legal - None. 5. Property/Assets – None. 6. Information Technology – None. 7. Equality & Human Rights – (a) The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report and it is for noting only 8. Health & Safety – None.
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9. Procurement – None. 10. Risk - None. 11. Privacy Impact - None. 12. Climate Risk – None. 13. Children’s Rights – None. 14. Cosla Policy Position – None. _______________________________________________________ List of Background Papers (a) Background paper 1 ‘Homelessness in Renfrewshire and Review of Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan’ Communities &Housing Policy Board on 29 October 2024 (b) Background paper 2 ‘Homelessness in Renfrewshire – Update ’Communities &Housing Policy Board on 21 May. 2024. (c) Background paper 3 ‘Homelessness in Renfrewshire – Update ’Communities & Housing Policy Board on 16 January 2024. (d) Background paper 4 ‘RRTP and Homelessness Update’, Communities & Housing Board on 25 October 2022. (e) Background paper 5 ‘ Homelessness Update’ Communities, Housing & Planning Policy Board on 15 March 2022. (f) Background paper 6 ‘Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan and Homelessness Update’ Communities, Housing & Planning Policy Board on 17 August, 2021. (g) Background Paper 7 ‘Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan – funding update’ Communities, Housing & Planning Policy Board on 19 January 2021. ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Tom Irvine, Homeless & Housing Support Services Manager. Tom.irvine@renfrewshire.gov.uk