GLASGOW City Council has today declared a housing emergency due to ‘unprecedented’ pressures faced in relation to homelessness.
The local authority said the move follows Home Office plans to make around 2,500 batched asylum decisions in Glasgow by the end of the year, which the council said could cost it £53 million.
The housing emergency declaration was a recommendation included in an update report to councillors from councillor Allan Casey, city convener for workforce, homelessness, and addiction services, on the impact of the home office decision to streamline the asylum process.
Councillor Casey said, “There is no doubt that the pressures we are facing constitute an emergency. We agree with partners that we urgently need resources to help us deal with these added pressures. We also need the UK Government to pause their unconscionable asylum-batching decision, which is already increasing homelessness and destitution, until they work with us to put a proper plan in place and commit to fully funding their decision.
“As our report outlines, referrals from Mears, the company which currently provides accommodation for those awaiting asylum decisions here in Glasgow, have doubled in recent months. The city is experiencing an overwhelming increase in people presenting as rough sleepers as well as a significant rise in individuals, from elsewhere in the UK, seeking assistance here in Glasgow.”
Shelter Scotland director Alison Watson said that Glasgow has been in a housing emergency for ‘some time’. She continued, “Thousands of children in Scotland’s largest city have nowhere to call home, private rents are out of control, and overstretched homelessness services simply can’t cope with demand – Glasgow is clearly in a housing emergency.
“Glasgow’s housing emergency is long standing, and we’re pleased it has been formally acknowledged by councillors today. The root cause of the city’s housing emergency is a chronic lack of social housing, but it’s been exacerbated by a cost-of-living crisis, the pandemic as well as the uncaring, thoughtless, actions of the Home Office.
“By coming together to acknowledge that reality today, councillors now have licence to deliver the emergency response needed – it’s vital they do so. Of course, there are aspects of the housing emergency that are beyond the council’s control, both the UK and Scottish governments must share responsibility, but people in Glasgow are crying out for action and every level of government has a duty to respond.
“The declaration of a housing emergency must be just the beginning of a journey for Glasgow – one which ends with everyone in the city having somewhere warm, safe, and secure to call home.”
