A Sunday Mail investigation has uncovered an all-time high of 3329 children are currently in temporary accommodation in Glasgow this festive period.
Glasgow’s homelessness figures have reached a grim new high(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
Scotland’s homelessness crisis is deepening with a record 9044 people languishing on the streets of the nation’s biggest city and in stop-gap housing this New Year.
A Sunday Mail investigation also revealed a shocking all time high of 3329 children are in temporary accommodation in Glasgow.
A similar picture of creeping poverty can be found in Edinburgh, Dundee, Stirling and Aberdeen, with charity Shelter estimating a new household is being made homeless every 15 minutes.
Michael O’Neill, deputy CEO at the Talbot Association, the biggest provider of homeless accommodation in Glasgow, said rising demand along with funding and staff cuts is making their job harder.
He said: “The beds are always full. When I first started working about 30 years ago, nobody needed to sleep rough in Glasgow, there was space for everybody, But beds have been cut across the city.
Michael O’Neill of the Talbot Association in Glasgow.(Image: Handout)
“Our emergency accommodation at Kingston House is a really interesting place to work because you get people from very diverse backgrounds.
“But the thing that’s the most consistent is trauma and mental health impacts for people who aren’t coping. We see a lot of traumatised individuals.”
We spoke to several homeless people around the city centre who painted a bleak picture of this winter and told how they were constantly cold, tired and hungry and feared getting sick.
Glasgow-born Nadeem Lal, 44, said: “I know my choices have brought me here. My addiction problems stemmed from abuse in childhood. I’m not trying to make excuses but there are reasons.”
Homeless man Nadeem Lal pictured on Argyle Street Glasgow as the homeless figures soar.(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
Another man who didn’t want to be named added: “I’d rather be out on the streets than stuck in temporary accommodation. They’re full of criminals and drug addicts, it’s the wrong environment for me.”
Glasgow’s homelessness rates have exploded in recent years mirroring a wider nationwide emergency.
The latest figures were provided by Glasgow City Council under Freedom of Information to housing campaigner Sean Clerkin, of the Scottish Tenants Organisation.
Clerkin said: ”Glasgow is experiencing a homelessness catastrophe.
“The hellhole hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation which many of the homeless in Glasgow have to endure is currently costing over £37million. This money could be better spent on building good quality temporary accommodation owned and controlled by the local authority.”
Campaigner Sean Clerkin(Image: DAILY RECORD)
Clerkin, who is among campaigners taking the council to court over homeless rates, accused town hall chiefs of “normalising homelessness on a mass scale and “allowing thousands of homeless people to suffer this Christmas”.
Across Scotland 53,720 people, including over 15,000 children, were assessed as homeless in 2024-25 with a record 17,240 households in temporary accommodation, a rise of six per cent on the previous year.
More than 2400 homeless people reported sleeping rough on the streets.
Homelessness applications soared by nearly a fifth in Dundee and Angus last year, while Edinburgh has the highest rate of households in short-term housing, with 178 per 10,000 of all households.
Glasgow, however, has the highest rate of overall homelessness in Scotland, with 223 out of 10,000 households classed as homeless compared to a national average of 133.
Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: “These heartbreaking figures lay bare the true human cost of the SNP’s housing emergency.
“This year thousands of families in Glasgow alone spent Christmas without a home of their own – that is a scandal.
“We have had years of warm words from this SNP government, but things are worse than ever.”
There are record numbers of homeless people in Glasgow and across Scotland(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
Lib Dem housing spokesman Paul McGarry said: “The SNP have made a series of damaging choices, including axing funding for housing in the middle of a housing crisis, and that has left far too many families and children stuck in temporary accommodation.”
The crisis comes as the city deals with an influx of asylum seekers, with leave to remain in the UK, needing homes – which the council has blamed on the Home Office’s policy of emptying asylum hotels.
Data shows, as of November 19, 5678 refugees with leave to remain were living in temporary accommodation in Glasgow
Tory shadow housing secretary Meghan Gallacher hit out: “These shocking figures are the predictable result of the SNP government’s reckless decision to ditch the local connection rule that has made the city a magnet for illegal migrants.
“It’s compounded the existing housing emergency caused by the rent controls introduced by the SNP and Greens.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “To be clear, people with no legal right to be in the country cannot access local authority support – and changes to local connection rules are not relevant to refugees.
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“The availability of housing in Glasgow remains under extreme pressure. Since July 2023, the council has had little choice but to increase the use of bed and breakfast accommodation – and it is well documented that the city has faced significant legal challenges as a result.
“We are working constructively with a range of partners to try and increase access to permanent housing.”
Overall numbers of homeless people in stop-gap housing in Glasgow jumped to 8000 last year. Last month, for the first time, the figure passed the 9000 mark.
Nearly 2500 people have been sent to live in emergency hotels, B&Bs and hostels long criticised as substandard.
That includes 393 homeless women and 95 homeless families with kids despite fears over safety and crime at these sites.
So far this year there have been 3081 breaches of the unsuitable accommodation order which is supposed to legally ensure homeless people don’t get stuck in unfit housing, all of which relate to hotels and B&Bs.