THE Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has warned that the nation’s homelessness crisis is ‘intolerable’ amid further increases in the number of children living in temporary accommodation.
According to new Scottish Government statistics on homelessness, there are 10,715 children living in temporary accommodation as at 31 March 2026, which is a 5% increase compared to the previous year. Figures also show that 19,004 households overall are in temporary accommodation, which is up 10% from the previous year.
SFHA chief executive, Richard Meade said, “It is simply intolerable that more children in Scotland are growing up in temporary accommodation, and it isn’t just about housing: a child without a stable home is a child whose education, health and life chances are all made harder. The Scottish Government is right to focus on prevention when tackling homelessness and to work with housing associations to keep people in their homes long before they reach crisis. However, the homelessness challenge will only be solved by prioritising building the social homes we need.
“Currently Scotland is not building the homes we need at the rate required to end this emergency. The Scottish Government is significantly behind its target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. The government must take urgent action to catch-up and go further to build the 15,693 safe, warm and affordable homes we need built every year of this parliament to meet the housing emergency.
“The longer the housing emergency goes on the more families will be left in temporary accommodation and homeless at great cost to our public services, and reducing the chances of government achieving its public service reform agenda, but more importantly the human cost will be devastating.”
