Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Official Report 1092KB pdf

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Homelessness Prevention and Housing Supply

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-08685, in the name of Mark Griffin, on homelessness prevention and housing supply. I invite those members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now.

14:56  

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am the owner of a rented property in the North Lanarkshire Council area.

Yesterday, I joked with the Minister for Housing that not many of his colleagues would be welcomed to their posts in an Opposition motion. However, we and organisations such as Shelter and Homes for Scotland have been calling for a dedicated housing minister for months, and we hope that he will bring a long-overdue and renewed focus on tackling our housing emergency. I appreciated his candour and expertise when we worked together in committee, and I hope that he will take that approach into Government.

Although we welcome the change in personnel, we also need a change in Government direction, because the task is urgent. Since our previous debate on the topic, the housing emergency has, as predicted, become worse. The new homes pipeline has continued to dry up; the rent freeze has failed, with rents increasing at their highest pace in a decade; some 10,000 children are in temporary accommodation, which is a record high; and at least 125 social tenants have been evicted from their homes under the so-called eviction ban.

In addition, the Government’s temporary accommodation task and finish group has confirmed what we already knew—that the ambition of the “Ending Homelessness Together” action plan has not matched realities on the ground. Furthermore, the Scottish Housing Regulator now reports that

“there is an emerging risk of systemic failure in ... homelessness services.”

In advance of today’s debate, Crisis in Scotland has shared with me—and many other members, I am sure—cases of households that it has been supporting. One family is trapped in local authority temporary accommodation that is infested with mice and rats. As a result of damp and mould, children are experiencing recurring viral illnesses, with their general practitioner recommending strongly that they leave those premises.

In another case, Tracy, a woman in her 40s with Crohn’s disease and Asperger’s, has spent more than four years in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh. She was left with no hot water for 18 months. However, it was not the lack of hot water but the severe damp and mould that rotted her wheelchair, which led to her being isolated, and destroyed old family photographs, school reports and treasured memories of her children’s time as youngsters. In Scotland in 2023, it took Tracy appearing on the STV programme “Scotland Tonight” for her to be offered a new home.

A homeless person in Midlothian faces a 96-week wait for their homelessness application to be closed. Across the country, the average wait is more than six months. Worse still—this is a national scandal—is the fact that at least 157 homeless Scots died in the past year, seemingly without Government response or reaction.

Labour’s motion lays down the task at hand for the new minister. If we want to end the homelessness emergency and the crisis in temporary accommodation, we need more homes. We need new social and private homes, and we need empty homes to be brought back into the social sector for living in.

I echo the key recommendation of the temporary accommodation task and finish group report. The Government must set an interim target of delivering 38,500 social homes by 2026. That number has not been plucked out of thin air but is from independent academic research that was commissioned by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing, which have demonstrated clearly that that would reduce housing need.

Shelter points out that social approvals are at their worst level since 2013 and starts are at their worst level since 2016. Both are down by 20 per cent. That means that we are seeing progress being rolled back. At the current rate, there is a real fear that the 2032 target will not be met.

We are absolutely clear that targets in themselves will not build a single home. However, they sharpen minds, such as those of the ministers who are appointed to build the homes that we need. Because the wider housing crisis continues, we need an all-tenure target, too. Success in the supply programme cannot be separated from success in supply in the wider market.

Homes for Scotland points to the Government’s research that shows that, in 2019, developer contributions were worth more than £30,000 for each private home that was built. Its survey found that three in 10 affordable homes were delivered because of the building of private homes.

That is why we are calling on Parliament to back Homes for Scotland’s call to return to the target of building 25,000 homes annually in order to start making progress on catching up on the homes that should have been built over the past five years.

We cannot support the Government’s amendment because it avoids a commitment to supporting the recommendations that are contained in its own group’s report. I am sure that the Minister for Housing, having spent time, with me, on the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, would not expect me to accept the Government’s claim that it is delivering investment in local government core funding—not when the vice-president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities was at the committee yesterday talking about the £1 billion shortfall, and not when Scottish National Party presidents and resource spokespersons at COSLA echo the same call.

The fact that no local authority has been able to fulfil all the rapid rehousing aims shows that, without proper Government support, the rapid rehousing transitions that are envisaged by the Government are impossible. During January’s debate, the minister’s predecessor repeatedly referred to the work of the group that the Government had rightly set up. Now that it has been given a chance to respond to that group, the Government has all but dismissed the very recommendations that it has made.

That is no fresh start. It is just a long list of rehashed promises—

Mr Griffin, I take it that you are concluding, because you are over your time.

Certainly, Presiding Officer.

I hope that that will change with the change of minister. The minister will absolutely have my support if it does.

I move,

That the Parliament acknowledges the recommendations of the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group and urges the Scottish Government to act upon them as soon as possible to tackle the rising tide of homelessness; welcomes the long overdue appointment of a dedicated Minister for Housing to the Scottish Government to focus minds; regrets the cuts to the affordable housing supply programme in the Scottish Government’s Budget, in light of the risk that its house building target will not be met; agrees that the Scottish Government should, at a minimum, adequately fund the delivery of new social homes through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme to meet an interim target of delivering 38,500 social homes by 2026; considers that the Scottish Government should commit to a target of building 25,000 all-tenure new homes annually, and presses the Scottish Government to publish a review of funding of homelessness services, including any identified funding gaps and the provision of continued funding for Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans and the prevention of homelessness.

I call the minister, Paul McLennan, to speak to and move amendment S6M-08685.2.

15:02  

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

I thank Mark Griffin for his kind words. Mark and I met yesterday, and I am keen to work with him, Mr Briggs and the other Opposition parties going forward.

The Government’s ambition is for everyone to have a warm, energy-efficient and affordable home that meets their needs. That is why, since 2007, we have prioritised housing, and we will continue to do so. It is a key part of our interdependent missions, as published last week, through our mission to prioritise our public services and focus on equality and opportunity.

We are proud of having now delivered 118,124 affordable homes since 2007, over 83,000 of which are for social rent, including 21,313 council homes. That is a first in a generation. To put it in context, that compares with the building of just six council homes by the previous Labour and Liberal coalition Government.

Across the four years between 2018 and 2022, Scotland delivered 59 per cent more affordable homes per head of population than England, 72 per cent more than Labour-controlled Wales and 24 per cent more than Northern Ireland. Over that period, we also delivered nine times more social rented homes per head of population than England. That is the context. However, we need to do more. I acknowledge that, and I will address it later in my speech.

We are working hard alongside our housing partners to deliver on our next target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70 per cent will be available for social rent and 10 per cent will be in our remote, rural and island communities. I am keen, as I mentioned before in the members’ business debate, to go out and visit rural and island communities in the summer.

That is backed by more than £3.5 billion over the current parliamentary session. That figure has not changed. The Labour motion mentions a reduction in the budget, but the £3.5 billion commitment is still there. Affordable housing commitments need to run over a number of years, which is why we have provided local authorities with resource planning assumptions for future years, and why we set out our medium-term investment plans in the multiyear capital spending review through to 2025-26.

We know that there are challenges ahead. The impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have increased prices. Alongside the United Kingdom Government’s disastrous mismanagement of the economy, that has led to spiralling energy costs and soaring inflation. Alongside the impacts on labour supply and trade due to a hard Brexit, inflation is having a significant impact on our spending power.

The minister has not yet mentioned the report of the temporary accommodation task and finish group. Does he accept what that report says and its recommendations?

I will address that point later in my speech.

The 2023-24 budget shows a real-terms reduction of 4.5 per cent in Barnett formula funding since 2021-22. It is estimated that construction inflation, which is incredibly important, is between 15 and 20 per cent at the moment.

However, that will not stop us delivering affordable homes for people across communities. By doing so, we support a total investment package of around £18 billion and up to 15,000 jobs each year while making an important contribution to tackling child poverty and ending homelessness. We have made clear in our “Ending Homelessness Together” strategy that tackling homelessness and ending rough sleeping are an absolute priority.

I turn to homelessness funding that is provided through the local government settlement. We provide local authorities with £30.5 million annually for their work to prevent homelessness. Separately, we are providing a total of £100 million from our multiyear ending homelessness together fund to transform the homelessness system. Of that funding, £52.5 million supports Scotland’s transition to the rapid rehousing and housing first approaches.

Homeless households are entitled to support from their council and to temporary accommodation if they need it. That is an important safety net. I am aware, however, that far too many households spend too long in temporary accommodation, and I am determined to see that change. Local authorities work hard to meet the needs and preferences of homeless households, but I acknowledge that some areas, particularly our large cities, face significant challenges in sourcing settled homes of the right type and size.

I will be meeting the key local authorities—the City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council. I know that the previous cabinet secretary, Shona Robison, also met them, and I will continue that. Specifically, we will work on the nuances that are needed in those areas. Fourteen local authorities have had reductions in the use of temporary accommodation, and it is important that we learn lessons from the local authorities that have done well in that regard.

It is important that we remember that not all temporary accommodation is unsuitable and that local authorities try where possible to convert or flip temporary accommodation to permanent tenancies. That reduces transitions for homeless households, but it relies on the property being of the right size and type to meet the household’s needs. Our statistics show that, on average, households with children spend longer in temporary accommodation compared with those without children. That is because local authorities take a person-centred approach to finding the right permanent home for each family. Doing so allows families time to adjust in difficult periods in their lives and helps to minimise the potential disruption to their established support networks and links to their community.

I am grateful for the work of the temporary accommodation task and finish group. We are considering its recommendations and we will respond shortly.

You need to conclude, minister.

I conclude by reinforcing the commitment to work closely with housing partners as we seek to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation and continue to deliver affordable homes so that everyone in Scotland has a place that they can call home.

I move amendment S6M-08685.2, to leave out from “urges” to end and insert:

“agrees that the Scottish Government should respond positively to tackle the unacceptable numbers in temporary accommodation; recognises the expertise and partnership working between local and national government, third sector organisations and those with lived experience to tackle, prevent and end homelessness, building on existing strong homelessness and housing rights; welcomes the continued investment through local government core funding and the Scottish Government’s £100 million Ending Homelessness Together transformation fund to continue with a rapid rehousing and housing first approach; acknowledges that Scotland leads the way in delivering affordable housing, with 118,124 affordable homes delivered since 2007, 83,291 of which were for social rent, including 21,313 council homes, and welcomes the Scottish Government’s continued investment of £3.5 billion over the current parliamentary session for the delivery of more affordable homes towards its 2032 target.”

I call Miles Briggs to speak to and move amendment S6M-08685.1. You have up to four minutes, Mr Briggs.

15:08  

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this debate on housing in its debating time. It follows the debate that the Scottish Conservatives brought to Parliament in January, calling on the Scottish Government to declare a homelessness emergency. I thank the organisations that provided the very helpful briefings ahead of today’s debate, and I also thank them for the work that they do across Scotland. They undertake life-saving and life-changing work in all our communities, so I pay tribute to them, especially for the work that they do here, in the capital, which is in my region.

At the beginning of this week, the Edinburgh Evening News reported on the 40 homeless deaths in the capital in 2022, which compared to an estimated 21 deaths in 2019. I express my condolences to the families and friends of those individuals. That shows that the crisis here, in the capital, is only getting worse.

Edinburgh is at the epicentre of the housing and homelessness crisis in Scotland today, and we need the same concerted efforts that there have been regarding the drug deaths crisis. The challenges that the capital is facing are extensive. Edinburgh has a quarter of all children in Scotland who are living in temporary accommodation today. The number of homelessness applications has risen to a record level, with Edinburgh having the highest number of live homelessness applications—6,198 in the past year alone.

After 15 years of Scottish National Party Government, Scotland is facing a housing and homelessness emergency, and we need the Government to act on it. The fact is that, in Scotland, a household becomes homeless every 18 minutes. As Shelter states in its briefing for today’s debate, a record number of children—almost 10,000—are trapped in temporary accommodation. That represents a 120 per cent increase since 2014. We are seeing rising levels of homelessness, with a 40 per cent increase in the number of households—14,458 of our fellow Scots—having to live in temporary accommodation compared with when the Government came into office. As the Scottish Housing Regulator has warned, homelessness services in Scotland today are

“at emerging risk of systemic failure”.

We therefore need a new approach and new solutions to be developed. Here, in the capital, we need an Edinburgh-specific focus. I welcome what the minister said in that regard, because I know that, in last week’s members’ business debate, MSPs said that they wanted such an approach to be taken urgently.

Delivery of the homes that Scotland needs—both social homes and private homes—needs to be planned in a way that it has not been planned to date. We need a fresh focus on the true reality that people in Scotland face today. I do not think that the Scottish Government has grasped the issue of hidden homelessness—that is certainly not counted in the statistics.

I believe that new extra-care housing models can make a real difference, so I want the Scottish Government to focus on that area. Following our conversations, I hope that the new minister will prioritise that. Recently, I attended the official opening of Rowan Alba’s Thorntree mill properties in the city, which provide nine homes for formerly street-homeless men. I pay tribute to Helen Carlin, the founder and chief executive officer of the Edinburgh-based charity, who stepped down after working in this field for 26 years. Helen started Rowan Alba in 1997 with the aim of creating a new approach to tackling homelessness. The work that it is doing in the capital should be rolled out across Scotland, so I hope that the minister will agree to visit the charity with me.

The new minister faces many challenges on all fronts, including a record number of children living in temporary accommodation, rising levels of homelessness, the negative impact of the rent control act—the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022—the lack of a cladding accord, local government and housing budget cuts, house building targets not being met and the potential collapse of the rental market in Scotland. I wish the minister well—and Scottish Conservatives will work with him—but it is now time for the SNP-Green Government to pause and reflect on what has gone wrong in Scotland. The Parliament needs to recognise that we face a housing emergency. Collectively, we need to act not only to save lives but to give everyone in Scotland the home that they deserve.

I move amendment S6M-08685.1, to insert at end:

“; notes that there has been a 12% decrease in new home starts in the year to end September 2022, compared with the previous 12 months, which adds to the housing shortfall of more than 110,000 homes since 2007; calls on the Scottish Government to look to develop new extra-care housing models to provide for people with additional support needs, and further calls on ministers to spearhead an urgent Scottish Housing Emergency Action Plan.”

15:13  

The number of children in temporary accommodation is at its highest level since records began. The number of households in temporary accommodation has gone up by a third in the past 10 years, and such households are stuck in that accommodation for a month longer than they were just five years ago. That means that more families have their lives in limbo for much longer.

However, the Government is failing to meet its own interim target to provide 38,500 social homes, and the Government’s response has been to cut the capital housing budget. That is all that we get from the SNP Government after 15 years. It is an absolutely woeful record.

None of that is my analysis. All of it comes from the Government’s wonderfully titled task and finish group, which was appointed by the minister. Its findings were published on the Government’s official website and were damned by its own advisers. The report’s recommendations are equally sound: more social housing, better use of existing stock and more support to help people to move on.

The new housing minister needs to have a laser-like focus on building more social housing. He needs to look at the whole pipeline, including skills, workforce supply, planning blockages, access to land, unit prices and so much more. It is a lot of hard graft, but that hard graft could make a difference.

I am a strong supporter of social housing, but that will not solve the crisis on its own. We also need a healthy private rented sector with new builds, and we need to create the right business environment for investment in that to happen. I want a mix of properties including mid-market rents. Creative housing associations can be part of that mix as well. Let us create that positive partnership with house builders, the private rented sector and housing associations to tackle the challenges together.

I was pleased to see yesterday’s announcement on housing for workers in rural areas. There are acute problems in areas such as mine, in the east neuk. We supported the introduction of control areas for short-term lets, even though we opposed the heavy-handed licensing system, but we are really frustrated at the snail’s pace of implementation of those control areas. We also support the council tax proposals for second homes, but they simply do not go far enough. I want to explore the use of licensing and planning to control the numbers.

My constituents on modest incomes do not get a look-in when it comes to buying those properties, which are also up for sale as holiday lets or second homes. They are simply priced out of the market—and they have no chance of getting on the council house waiting list, where demand is through the roof. They are forced to live in overcrowded and often damp housing, which is often miles away. Or, worse, they simply have to move out of the area altogether. That deprives local employers of good employees and hollows out the community, threatening the future of shops, schools, libraries and other public services.

I want second homes and holiday lets—I am clear about that—because they bring economic wellbeing. However, too much of a good thing is a bad thing, which is why we need controls. It is why I am desperate for control areas, more social housing and a healthy private rented sector.

My final plea is for the use of rural housing burdens and the Communities Housing Trust, which allows people to get on the housing ladder but anchors those homes for local people. The trust needs support from enlightened landowners but also from an enabling Government.

With all of that together, we might have a hope of tackling the housing crisis that exists in Scotland. I hope that the minister is up to the challenge.

I advise the chamber that we are tight for time. Members will therefore have to stick to their time allocations. We move to the open debate.

15:17  

My casework is currently inundated with constituents experiencing housing issues. Families are stuck on waiting lists for permanent homes. Individuals are stuck in unsuitable temporary accommodation, living with damp, mould, mice and rats. Students are presenting as homeless because they cannot find affordable accommodation where they study. With the appointment of a specific housing minister, it appears that the Scottish Government is beginning to take this homelessness and housing crisis seriously.

Scotland is experiencing a housing emergency, with a record number of children trapped in temporary accommodation. As of September 2022, 9,130 children were reported to be living in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of more than 100 per cent on the figure a decade ago. The number of families presenting as homeless has also increased massively, with 40 per cent more households in temporary accommodation than was the case in 2014.

The City of Edinburgh Council alone is facing a £65 million bill for tackling homelessness. Local authorities across Scotland will also be buckling under the weight of the overflowing housing sector. No local authority was able to meet its rapid rehousing aims within the projected five years. Without allocated resources from the Scottish Government, local authorities will continue to fall short of their housing aims.

The temporary accommodation task and finish group has made distinct recommendations about how to begin to solve the homelessness crisis, and the Scottish Government must take significant action now to address those recommendations. If it does not act now and provide resources to meaningfully implement the recommendations, they will not be worth the paper that they are written on.

Homelessness can affect any group. It is not just families that are suffering in the current housing crisis. Yesterday, I asked the Scottish Government what its response was to a recent report by NUS Scotland that said that a fifth of international students in Scotland had experienced homelessness during their studies. The report found that international students were almost twice as likely to find themselves homeless as home students were. That is unacceptable, and the Scottish Government must act now to ensure that international students are welcomed into Scotland and looked after during their studies.

In January this year, I hosted a student housing round-table event to address problems that students are having in sourcing accommodation. I was told a similar story of students being unable to source accommodation, with many having to sleep on friends’ couches or to source accommodation far outside the city that they were studying in.

The Scottish Government must also do more to hold universities accountable for the housing needs of their students. Further investment in overpriced purpose-built student accommodation will not solve the problem. The Scottish Government must act now to begin solving the multitude of problems in Scotland’s housing sector.

15:21  

I, too, welcome another debate on the issue of housing and how we realise high-quality dwellings for all our constituents as a right and not just a commodity.

In preparing for the debate, I reflected on a meeting that I had earlier this week with two people who used to run prominent housing associations here in the capital over several decades. We talked about the pressures that we face and the causes that have brought us to this point. They have worked through the different stages of the context that we are in and what we have gone through as a society.

First, we had the post-war expansion of social and council housing, which was followed by the selling off of that stock by many providers. Although that realised a successful outcome for individuals, it presented a challenge for us as a society that was not met. We then had the realisation of devolution and the huge positive impact that that has brought for social and council housing here in Scotland. A greater quantity of affordable homes has been provided since 1999. Since 2007, 118,000 affordable homes have been built, such that we have 30 per cent more homes per 10,000 of the population compared with elsewhere in the UK. In addition, in 2014, the right to buy was ended, which means that we are constantly increasing the stock that is available to citizens.

We have also had the implementation of the innovative housing first programme, which has been very successful here in Edinburgh and elsewhere, the strategising behind “Housing to 2040” and the commitment, which is still being maintained, of £3.5 billion-worth of investment.

However, despite that positive progress, as we have heard from members across the chamber, demand continues to grow and there is still a challenge, particularly here in Edinburgh. That is due to a variety of factors, and inflation has added to that. Indeed, this month, it was reported that, on average, 43 per cent of the income of people in Edinburgh is spent on rent. That is a very significant figure. As well as presenting a significant challenge for people in affording housing here in the capital, that takes money out of other aspects of the real economy.

We need more housing. In the private sector, the situation is influenced by a number of external challenges to do with investment, the inflationary pressures on building materials and the monetary effect of the availability of credit. We must continue to work with partners to increase the provision of private housing. It is clear, as others have said, that we need to build more social housing. That has been emphasised by the Government.

In a position of significant challenges for the public finances, we need innovative solutions, as has been argued, and we need to consider how we raise more finance. Devolution of capital gains tax and dividend income tax would certainly be welcome. In addition, is there more that we could do with land and buildings transaction tax, such as a surcharge on overseas buyers, as the UK Government has had for a number of years?

I believe that now is the time that we should work together collectively towards a land value tax. That will take time to realise, and we will need political consensus, but the benefits that that could bring to the public finances and the change that it could bring in terms of more equity of wealth would be significant.

Housing is a holistic issue. It is great that the three housing ministers are here. The issue is also about land reform, planning and finance, so I am glad that the Government is taking a holistic approach. I look forward to working with the housing ministers and colleagues across the chamber to realise affordable housing as a right, not a commodity—as a home, not just a house.

15:26  

I thank Mr Griffin and the Labour group for using their parliamentary time to discuss the recommendations of the temporary accommodation task and finish group, which I have read with interest.

Let us look at the situation in which we find ourselves in Scotland, specifically in regard to temporary accommodation. The latest Scottish Government figures, from the end of September 2022, state that there are 14,458 households in temporary accommodation in Scotland, which is an increase on the previous year’s figure.

The same Scottish Government report advises that 9,130 children are recorded as being in temporary accommodation, which is the highest level recorded so far, with the figure increasing year on year. Out of the almost 15,000 households in temporary accommodation, 7,010 of them have at least one additional support need identified—in simple terms, that means that they need support on a day-to-day basis. In temporary accommodation, there are 903 households in which at least one person is living with a physical disability and 529 households in which at least one person is living with a learning disability.

What is not mentioned in those appalling figures and is not mentioned anywhere in the 15 recommendations is concern for women’s homelessness and the causes behind it. Although homelessness has many common triggers, ranging from household disputes, relationship breakdown, financial problems, being asked to leave the family home and so on, the most common trigger for women is domestic physical or sexual abuse.

I strongly agree with Scottish Women’s Aid when it states that it is

“very disappointed that this important opportunity to consider the distinct gendered differences and underlying causes of women’s homelessness and, correspondent approaches to prevent it, has not been taken”.

We should be taking this opportunity to deal with the scourge of women’s hidden homelessness, but again we find that the concerns of women are not recognised. I am worried that the Government’s amendment removes the need for urgency, because women’s homelessness must be addressed now.

Scottish Women’s Aid goes on to say that “homelessness is inherently gendered”. An understanding of the distinct experiences of women and children and the underlying causes of their risk of homelessness is essential if we are to develop effective responses in Scotland to tackle and prevent it.

It is concerning that statistics for gender-based homelessness are not included, but that is understandable when we know that that type of temporary accommodation is not registered. Many women look to sofa surf, using friends’ generosity to remove themselves from the perils of an abusive relationship.

If we do not focus on the specifics, we miss the chance to make necessary transformation for everlasting change, and all of these good intentions become obsolete if the housing stock is simply not there to ensure safe and permanent accommodation. Therefore, housing stock must be addressed urgently.

I will be brief, because I am aware of the time. Scottish Women’s Aid’s “Policies Not Promises” report, which came out on 25 April, mentioned some of the issues that the member talks about. We have already arranged a meeting with Scottish Women’s Aid to discuss the report in more detail. I have information on why people are asked to leave, and domestic abuse is an element of that. Domestic abuse is an issue that I take seriously, and I am meeting Scottish Women’s Aid to discuss it shortly.

I sincerely welcome that, and I am glad to hear that the Government is actually doing something about it. However, it is very relevant that it is mentioned in the debate.

I welcome the Scottish Conservatives’ amendment and its call on the Scottish Government to develop new extra-care housing models to provide for people with additional support needs, which will intrinsically change the process by taking into consideration the specific needs of the individual.

I hope that we will now get a guarantee from the Government that it will implement processes to ensure that gender-based homelessness is seen as a specific need and to eradicate women’s hidden homelessness in Scotland.

15:30  

Our housing system is broken. Record numbers of children are trapped in temporary accommodation, and the homelessness rate is rising. Not only is that damaging to the health and wellbeing of people who are experiencing those appalling conditions, but the knock-on effects are felt throughout our society, in our schools and workplaces and, of course, on our streets.

We know that education, employment and health outcomes are all linked to our fundamental need for homes that we can thrive in. As Ben Macpherson has said, that basic need is also our right. Because housing is devolved, there is no excuse for this Parliament not to act. The housing emergency that we face is entirely avoidable. What it needs is political will from the Government and the resources to tackle it.

I have yet to hear any suggestions about moving capital resource from another part of the budget into housing, and I am genuinely interested to hear the member’s proposals.

If the member is suggesting a meeting to discuss how we can use public investment to generate wealth for the whole of society, I would be very happy to take that meeting.

In the private sector, tenants are repeatedly faced with landlords who are reluctant to make improvements to the quality of housing, despite continuing to charge excessively high rents. That leaves tenants bearing the costs of rising energy bills and living with damp and mouldy housing and the stress of choosing whether to heat or eat.

However, it is not just tenants who pay. The housing emergency impacts us all, and our cash-strapped local authorities are having to pay the private sector to house people in temporary accommodation for years at a time while they and the Scottish Government provide grants to pay private energy bills to try to prevent people having to leave their homes in the first place. We are looking at the widespread use of public funds to enrich the private sector, every penny of which could be better spent on upgrading and expanding our council housing stock.

As my colleague Mark Griffin has detailed, local authorities would benefit hugely from being able to provide more affordable council housing, and an industrial strategy for housing could see the creation of many well-paid, secure, unionised jobs to build and maintain the homes that we so desperately need.

Therefore, if the First Minister truly aims to deliver a green wellbeing economy that reduces poverty, that must start by ensuring that every person in Scotland has a warm and secure home that they can afford to live in. However, the current pace of retrofitting old housing stock and building new homes is not meeting Government targets or public demand, and local authorities are struggling to provide homelessness support while their resources are stretched so thinly. Therefore, the Government must work with councils, and, crucially, it must provide fair funding to fulfil these ambitions.

That is why Labour welcomes the Scottish Government’s move to increase council tax on second homes. However, the Government has had that power since April 2013, and it has taken a decade to decide to consult on that once again. It cannot be another decade before we actually see the measure implemented.

We are faced with an emergency in housing, the scale of which can be addressed only with a response of the same magnitude. That means a co-ordinated mass roll-out of council house buy-back, retrofitting and building. It is the only way to ensure that public money, which is our money, is spent on what people need most: warm, secure, affordable homes—not subsidised private profits for a select few.

15:34  

Despite, rightly, moving to a housing first solution wherever we can in Scotland, having places where people can sleep safely while a more suitable long-term arrangement is identified remains vital. As the minister acknowledged, it is clear that families should not be in temporary accommodation if it can humanly be avoided.

The reasons for homelessness across the UK are inseparable from the wider picture of poverty, austerity and benefits changes. The recommendations that have been set out by the temporary accommodation task and finish group represent a key opportunity to make progress. As is set out in the report, we must see more social housing built, existing housing stock maximised and the provision of suitable support put in place for those who are moving on.

Homelessness is often viewed as an urban issue, but in my island constituency house prices and rent increases, coupled with high numbers of second homes and short-term lets, mean that even people working full time can find themselves needing temporary accommodation in some form.

Backed by significant Scottish Government funding, the local authority and housing association, as well as community landowners, have made steady progress on house building across the Western Isles in recent years. Even small projects, such as adding five to 10 homes to local housing stock, can make a huge difference to businesses being able to employ people in a community, and therefore to the viability of that community.

However, demand still outstrips supply in many island areas, particularly for social housing. For example, individuals on the housing waiting list in Stornoway have to endure a similar length of time to people who are on the Edinburgh list, and they often wait more than two years before being able to secure housing that is close enough to their place of work. People in other areas of the islands often confront the reality that little or no social housing exists at all.

Of course, global supply chain issues continue, and the impact of inflationary pressures makes it impossible to make housing budgets go anywhere near as far as they could even 12 months ago, but the need for more social and other affordable housing is one of the key issues in my constituency. When working-age people cannot access affordable housing in their area, they are forced to move away, contributing further to depopulation and the drain on suitable employees for essential local services.

That is why I whole-heartedly welcome the Scottish Government’s recent commitment of £25 million to bring empty homes back into use in rural and island areas to enable them to be used by key workers and others. I also hope that, following the on-going consultation, councils will be given the power to increase council tax on second or empty homes.

Finally, I believe that measures to allow for limits to be introduced on the proportion and number of second homes in specific communities would represent a key step in helping to ensure more equitable access to the local housing market and avoid the imminent hollowing out of some communities, which other members have alluded to. I look forward to discussing that in more detail with the new housing minister at our meeting in a fortnight’s time.

Addressing housing issues across Scotland requires co-operation, commitment and creativity from all levels of government and working collaboratively with local communities. I hope that the temporary accommodation task and finish group’s recommendations will help shape our response to this specific and real problem while work on wider housing issues continues apace.

15:38  

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss homelessness and the housing challenges that Scotland faces with our new housing minister.

Although we made good progress on addressing acute homelessness such as rough sleeping during the pandemic, I fear that we have yet to acknowledge the scale of the hidden homelessness that is present in many of our rural communities.

The causes of and solutions to the housing crisis in the Highlands and Islands, especially in its rural communities, are complex. A lack of supply, an ageing population, high land values, an imbalance between local wages and house prices and poor transport infrastructure, especially for public transport, all play a part, and are all areas that Greens in government seek to address.

The more I have worked on housing and planning issues, the more I have become a champion of the community-led housing model and its potential to transform housing provision—particularly in rural communities. We must improve access to the rural and island housing fund and provide on-going financial support for rural housing enablers, such as the Communities Housing Trust, which make community-led housing projects achievable by local communities.

Homelessness in rural areas does not just mean the lack of a roof over someone’s head; it also means the loss of community, of young people of working age and of language and culture. With no homes available close to friends and family, young people increasingly feel forced into our cities and towns, which adds to housing issues there. We need to ensure that we create homes that enable people to become rooted in their communities—if that is what they want—and provide the workers and families who we need to keep local communities thriving and viable.

In rural areas, especially, we lose homes to the holiday and second-homes markets. The Scottish Government is right to regulate and introduce stricter planning rules on short-term lets and to work with councils to bring empty homes back into use. I welcome the consultation on council tax for both empty and second homes. Not only does increasing council tax on second homes create a new source of income for councils, it helps to level the playing field between property investors and those who need a home to live in. The change will affect more than 9,000 properties in my region, the Highlands and Islands.

During this parliamentary session, Greens in government will also deliver a mechanism for capturing for public benefit a share of the increase in land value that occurs when a development is supported through the planning system. Adopting a plan-led approach through the new national planning framework means that local authority, regional and national plans align and drive the right kind of development in the right places, instead of the current situation, which is driven by developers and their profit motive.

I welcome the recommendations of the temporary accommodation task and finish group report that call for greater collaboration between the Scottish Government, COSLA and health and social care partnerships to ensure better planning and joined-up thinking. That is the kind of systemic change that we need to see that puts housing and people first.

The social housing and not-for-profit sectors are keen to address the challenge in innovative ways, and not only in rural areas. In Inverness, I have seen first hand the great work of Albyn Housing’s recent Bailey Place development, and the work of non-profit Highland Housing Association to retrofit and repurpose the Merchant house in the city centre. It transformed a derelict historic building into eight affordable, energy-efficient homes.

Scotland’s housing sector needs long-term solutions and a culture change away from housing as an investment to housing as something that creates homes for all our people. Greens in government will continue making the case for change and adequate funding to ensure that everyone in Scotland can access a safe, affordable and warm home in their local community and that our rural areas remain places to dwell as well as places to visit.

15:43  

We should all be deeply troubled by the housing crisis in Scotland today. We are a rich country with so many resources at our disposal, yet homelessness still continues to shame our country. It is 2023, but there are still people on the streets who have no other option, no roof over their head and no place to call home.

I know, living in Springburn, that so many people are struggling to access homeless services. They feel let down—even abandoned—by a broken system that seems to be working against them and not for them. I hear from constituents every week who, almost always through no fault of their own, are struggling to get a home of their own or, in many cases, who are struggling to find somewhere to stay—even just for that night. It is heartbreaking, and in this day and age it should not be this way.

Beyond Springburn and Glasgow, the scale of the crisis is apparent across Scotland in dozens of tragic statistics.

Will the member take an intervention?

I do not have enough time; I have only four minutes—sorry.

The number of open homeless applications is at its highest level since data collection began in 2002. There are 14,450 households in temporary accommodation, the number of children in temporary accommodation has reached a record high and—worst of all—more than 14 homeless people die in Scotland each month.

It is past time for action to address this crisis; everyone deserves a roof over their head. There must be affordable housing to help people who are struggling to make ends meet and there must be clear, accessible routes for people to get on to the property ladder.

The Government does everyone in the country a disservice when all that it does is try to deflect blame and dodge responsibility on this issue. The Parliament has the power to tackle the housing crisis and to help people out of homelessness. It has the budget and it has all the levers that it needs to act yet, too often, all we hear from SNP ministers are excuses and passing the buck. They make excuses and blame others because the Government’s record is one of failure after failure. Targets have been missed; the number of affordable homes started has decreased by almost a quarter in the past year; the number of affordable homes approved has fallen to its lowest since 2013; rents in Scotland are rising faster than in the rest of the UK; and a £1 billion plan designed to address the housing crisis was halted because of the short-sighted SNP-Green rent cap.

What has the SNP Government done in response to the crisis? It has cut the housing budget by £166 million in cash terms, making the problem even worse. That record should shame ministers, but the SNP Government seems to be so out of touch and detached from reality that it will not even accept that it can and must act.

As my colleagues have said, there are actions that the SNP can take to start tackling this crisis. The Scottish Conservatives have outlined what could be done. The Government could develop new extra-care housing models to provide for people with additional support needs; it could spearhead an urgent Scottish housing emergency action plan; it could introduce compulsory sales orders for long-term unoccupied properties to bring them back into use; it could relax planning laws and allow the redevelopment of unoccupied businesses into housing; and, most simply of all, it could provide the funding to build more affordable and social homes.

Emma Harper rose—

Will the member give way?

I am out of time.

Instead of pointing all the powers of this Parliament towards tackling the housing crisis, the SNP Government wants to point the finger of blame elsewhere; I urge MSPs to back Miles Briggs’s amendment to force the Government to accept its responsibility.

15:47  

The debate was pretty consensual until what we heard from the previous speaker.

I thank Shelter Scotland, Homes for Scotland and all the other organisations that provided briefings for this debate. I also thank them for all the work that they do to support the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness. I welcome the minister to his new role, as well.

The housing supply and tackling homelessness are crucial issues if we are to become a fairer nation that is focused on advancing the wellbeing economy. In the UK, Scotland has led the way in delivering affordable and social housing. More than 118,124 homes, to be accurate—as the minister said in his opening speech—have been delivered under the SNP since 2007, compared with six, I think, under the previous Labour Administration. If Labour is serious about tackling homelessness, it must recognise that the Scottish Government is working to tackle poverty with one hand tied behind its back.

Will the member give way?

I am sure that I do not have time.

The director of the Child Poverty Action Group, John Dickie, said:

“Scottish Government policies are making a big difference to families. But the harsh reality is that soaring inflation and real terms UK benefit cuts means the gap between incomes and the minimum cost of raising a child is widening horribly.”

It is true that many of the actions that the Scottish Government takes are simply undermined by the UK Government cutting vital support—for example, cutting the £20 universal credit uplift. Scotland is at the mercy of UK Government decisions in tackling poverty, which is a root cause of homelessness. I hope that Labour agrees and acknowledges that.

People across Scotland are paying a steep price for the reckless economic mismanagement of the UK Government. That inevitably means more people falling into poverty and experiencing homelessness. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, disposable incomes are predicted to fall by around 7 per cent in real terms in this year and the next.

The Scottish Government is investing £100 million to transform the homelessness system and implement the updated “Ending Homelessness Together” action plan. More people with high support needs have been helped into settled housing, and local authorities have now provided more than 1,000 housing first tenancies across Scotland. However, we have particular challenges in rural Scotland, including in Dumfries and Galloway in my South Scotland region. I will pick up on the rural aspects that the minister mentioned in his opening remarks.

Good-quality housing is essential to attract and retain people in Scotland’s remote, rural and island communities. That is also a focus of Alasdair Allan. The Scottish Government has delivered almost 8,000 affordable homes in rural and island areas since 2007, and there is a clear commitment to deliver 11,000 more by 2032. That includes 4,484 affordable homes and 1,605 housing association properties in Dumfries and Galloway. That is bolstered by programmes such as the £30 million rural and islands housing funds.

A remote, rural and islands housing action plan is also in development. I ask the minister for a commitment that that plan will have a particular focus on prioritising building on former brownfield sites, such as vacant, abandoned and derelict land, and not just on greenfield land, which could be used for agricultural activity.

I am conscious of the time. I know that there are VAT issues that UK Government ministers have been contacted about. As far as I am aware, there has been no response. VAT reduction would be an incentive for redeveloping brownfield sites and would help to bring those back into housing use.

I support the Scottish Government’s amendment.

15:51  

It always takes Opposition parties to debate housing. I congratulate Labour on doing so again.

At the heart of Labour’s motion is the issue of the lack of supply and the scathing report of the temporary accommodation task and finish group. What a shame that the minister could not commit to its recommendations. We need look no further than the report’s opening lines to see the scale of the problem that we face. It says:

“Scotland is in the grip of a homelessness crisis that is damaging the lives and opportunities of thousands of families with children and young people across every community in Scotland.”

It talks of a “broken housing system”, and it says that, six years ago,

“the Scottish Government and COSLA convened the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group.”

It says that that group proposed

“a Rapid Rehousing approach to reduce the need for temporary accommodation and the ... adoption of Housing First”

to help those with complex needs.

I was on the Local Government and Communities Committee at that time, and we produced a report that also proposed following the housing first model. That followed a visit to Finland, where we saw how that country’s approach had helped to cut homelessness to as near to zero as possible.

The task and finish group said:

“The ambitions of that plan have not matched up to the realities on the ground ... we have rising rough sleeping, record numbers of people trapped in the homelessness system for longer and the national scandal of nearly 10,000 children in temporary accommodation.”

That is disgraceful—there is no other word for it.

None of us lives in temporary accommodation. However, in September last year, 14,400 households in Scotland did. That is the highest number on record. That is a statistic that should shame the Government. The average time that was spent in temporary accommodation was 207 days. Try to imagine that, and tell me that we live in a caring Scotland.

Ultimately, we need to build more homes of the right type and in the right places. For as long as I have been an MSP—and even longer—we have known that. The temporary accommodation task and finish group knows that, and so does Shelter Scotland. The task group’s report says that the solutions are straightforward—namely, we need more social homes,

“we need to use the homes we have more effectively and we need to fund”

homelessness

“services properly to treat people with dignity and respect.”

Of course, that should have been happening already. Part of the problem is funding for councils, whose budgets have been systematically slashed year on year by the SNP. Recently, the Scottish Housing Regulator said that homelessness services in Scotland are at

“emerging risk of systemic failure”

due to the pressure on the system, with councils increasingly unable to meet their statutory duties.

Funding, which was mentioned by Mercedes Villalba, is also a serious issue for those who are trying to deliver social housing. The minister really needs to look at the way in which funding is delivered, because it seems to be deemed too high a risk for some people to get involved in building those vital homes.

We have heard a number of good speeches. Roz McCall spoke of the problems that women face with homelessness, and Miles Briggs spoke about the situation in Edinburgh. Also, it was great to hear Ben Macpherson, freed from the shackles of SNP groupthink, coming up with ideas such as land value tax—he will get into trouble for that.

The message is that the Government needs to do better, so I support the amendment in the name of Miles Briggs.

15:55  

I thank everyone who has spoken today. I welcome any debate on housing—I genuinely mean that. This is a short debate, and I wish that it could have gone on a little longer.

This Government is committed to preventing and ending homelessness and ensuring that every person in Scotland has access to a safe, warm and affordable place that they can call home. Homes are so much more than just bricks and mortar—Mr Simpson touched on that. They are where we feel most comfortable and where we spend most of our time. Housing has a huge influence on our health and wellbeing.

Last week, the First Minister was clear that the Scottish Government wants to tackle poverty and improve the life chances of people across our country. Of course, we want to deliver the public services that our communities rely on, including affordable housing, so that we can create a fairer society and drive opportunity for the people of Scotland.

I want to touch on a few points that have been raised by a few speakers. I cannot touch on all of them, due to time, but one of the key things that I want to mention is the fact that there were no amendments lodged regarding homelessness funding during the last budget process. It is important to highlight that.

Will the member take an intervention?

I have only four minutes, so I would like to continue. This is a short debate, but I am happy to take up the member’s point afterwards.

Mark Griffin mentioned the 10-year target of 25,000 homes. With regard to affordable homes targets, the Scottish Government must work with Homes for Scotland, and we are trying to develop more housing in that regard.

Miles Briggs mentioned the need for a focus on Edinburgh, and we had a meeting this morning to talk about that. I know that Alex Cole-Hamilton is looking to set up an Edinburgh summit. That is important. Miles Briggs also mentioned extra-care housing, and he might be aware that I hosted a parliamentary reception for a group of people with an interest in the issue and have set up an extra-care task force. It is an issue that I take seriously.

I say to Mr Rennie that I will have a laser focus on the issue that he raised. I reached out to him last week in relation to the broader issue around it.

To Mr Simpson, I say that I reached out to the cross-party group on housing and offered to meet it. I want to be as collaborative as I can be—that is my message to any member who has an issue that they want to raise.

Although temporary accommodation is a vital safety net for some homeless households, it should only ever be short term. We know that lengthy stays in temporary accommodation are not good for the health and wellbeing of families, which is why we want to see people in settled homes that meet their needs as soon as possible.

Earlier, I mentioned that 14 local authorities have reduced the number of households living in temporary accommodation and that nine local authorities have reduced the number of children living in temporary accommodation compared with the previous year. We want to learn the positive lessons from that, and I will continue to meet housing conveners in that regard. I will discuss with those who are under most pressure proposals that might provide some relief. I have already reached out to Mark Griffin and Miles Briggs, and I will continue to engage with them.

The new prevention of homelessness duties, which are due to be introduced as soon as possible after the summer recess, will be an important milestone in achieving our commitment of preventing homelessness at source.

As I mentioned before, rapid rehousing is an approach that gets people into a settled home quickly with the support that they need to make it work. It therefore reduces the need for many forms of temporary accommodation. I am pleased that all 32 local authorities have rapid rehousing transition plans and that 26 of them now have housing-first programmes, with the result that more than 1,400 housing-first tenancies are in place. Housing first is aimed at people with multiple and complex needs and a history of rough sleeping and repeat homelessness.

Roz McCall mentioned complex needs, and I want to set up a ministerial oversight group in that regard, because, as people have mentioned, people in homelessness require support with their complex needs. There must be a broader Government look at that, so that is one thing that I will do.

I will close by acknowledging that more work needs to be done to achieve the goals. Scotland already has the strongest rights for homeless households in the UK, and we are taking important steps towards strengthening the rights of tenants and preventing homelessness. Tackling homelessness and achieving our ambition of a settled home for all cannot be achieved in isolation. It will take collaborative working, and it is crucial that this Government works across portfolios, as I mentioned before, as well as with our valued partners and stakeholders, to come together to find solutions that are based on our common goals.

As the Minister for Housing, I look forward to the role that I will play in building affordable homes and in helping to prevent and end homelessness in Scotland.

I call Alex Rowley to wind up the debate.

16:00  

As Mark Griffin said at the beginning of his speech, the Scottish Labour Party is pleased that the Government has finally listened and has appointed a dedicated housing minister. Sadly, there is a new minister but the same old script. We actually need action to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis.

Today, Emma Harper again rolled out a misleading statement about what Labour did 16 years ago, when it was in power. It was misleading because—to put it to bed once and for all—between 2001 and 2007, 28,988 houses were completed in Scotland as social housing for rent.

Will the member take an intervention on that point?

No—I want to finish my point.

Is it not a tragedy that, after 16 years of the SNP being in power, we have a major housing crisis in this country and the best that SNP MSPs can do is attack a previous Government from 16 to 20 years ago? What about the people who are living in damp housing up and down Scotland right now and the people who cannot get housing and are on the waiting list? Is that the best that they can expect from the SNP Government? It is an utter disgrace. What we need now is action.

Shelter sets out Scotland’s housing emergency:

“Record numbers of children ... trapped in temporary accommodation – a 120% increase since 2014

Rising homelessness with a 40% increase in households ... having to live in temporary accommodation compared to 2014

Homelessness services ‘at emerging risk of systemic failure’, according to the Scottish Housing Regulator”

Shelter Scotland and the regulator say:

“If urgent action is not taken, we will be unable to address child poverty and will not improve health, education and employment outcomes. Social justice cannot be achieved if people do not have a home they can thrive in.”

Let us stop the rhetoric. After 16 years, Scotland is in crisis and we need to build houses. Mercedes Villalba said that we need an industrial strategy. If the Government said today that it was going to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis, there would not be enough sparkies, brickies or joiners to do so. We have a major skills crisis across Scotland and we do not have the people with the skills to build the houses.

Will the member take an intervention?

I will, if it is brief.

I think that that is a vital part of the process, but does the member not acknowledge that his party’s support of Brexit exacerbates the problem?

We have a crisis in which thousands of people up and down Scotland cannot get accommodation and in which tens of thousands of children go home at night to temporary accommodation and are expected to do well the next day in their education. At the same time, we have a skills crisis, so we do not have people with the necessary skills to build houses, but we are not giving children the opportunities to get those skills. When will this Government accept some responsibility? When will the Government turn round and say, “We will tackle that. We will put a 20 to 30-year programme in place. We will give local authorities the powers that they need over planning and acquiring land, and we will put the people of Scotland first by building houses for all of Scotland’s children”?

That is where we need to go with this. If the Government is unable to do that, it is time that it—

Will the member take an intervention?

I will, if it is brief.

The member is winding up, I am afraid.

I thought that I had five minutes, Presiding Officer, but there you go.

I appeal to the Government to start taking the matter seriously. Labour will work with the Government, because we want to tackle the housing crisis. Let us take it seriously, sit down and look at how we will do it. I say to the Government: stop blaming others, take responsibility and tackle Scotland’s housing crisis.

That concludes the debate on homelessness prevention and housing supply. Before we move to the next item of business, there will be a brief pause while members on the front benches change over.