![\"glasgow](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_27-12-25_Homeless_11JPG.jpg\")
Glasgow’s homelessness figures have reached a grim new high(Image: Tony Nicoletti\/Daily Record)<\/p>\nA 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)<\/p>\n
Scotland’s homelessness<\/a> crisis is deepening with a record 9044 people languishing on the streets of the nation\u2019s biggest city and in stop-gap housing this New Year.<\/p>\n A Sunday Mail investigation also revealed a shocking all time high of 3329 children are in temporary accommodation in Glasgow.<\/a><\/p>\n 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<\/a> every 15 minutes.<\/p>\n Michael O\u2019Neill, deputy CEO at the Talbot Association, the biggest provider of homeless<\/a> accommodation in Glasgow, said rising demand along with funding and staff cuts is making their job harder.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThe beds are always full. When I first started working about 30 years ago, nobody needed to sleep rough in Glasgow<\/a>, there was space for everybody, But beds have been cut across the city.<\/p>\n \u201cOur emergency accommodation<\/a> at Kingston House is a really interesting place to work because you get people from very diverse backgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the thing that\u2019s the most consistent is trauma and mental health<\/a> impacts for people who aren\u2019t coping. We see a lot of traumatised individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n We spoke to several homeless<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Glasgow-born Nadeem Lal, 44, said: \u201cI know my choices have brought me here. My addiction problems stemmed from abuse in childhood. I\u2019m not trying to make excuses but there are reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n Another man who didn\u2019t want to be named added: \u201cI\u2019d rather be out on the streets than stuck in temporary accommodation<\/a>. They\u2019re full of criminals and drug addicts, it\u2019s the wrong environment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Glasgow<\/a>\u2019s homelessness rates have exploded in recent years mirroring a wider nationwide emergency.<\/p>\n The latest figures were provided by Glasgow City Council under Freedom of Information to housing<\/a> campaigner Sean Clerkin, of the Scottish Tenants Organisation.<\/p>\n Clerkin said: \u201dGlasgow<\/a> is experiencing a homelessness catastrophe.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hellhole hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation which many of the homeless<\/a> in Glasgow have to endure is currently costing over \u00a337million. This money could be better spent on building good quality temporary accommodation owned and controlled by the local authority.\u201d<\/p>\n Clerkin, who is among campaigners taking the council to court over homeless<\/a> rates, accused town hall chiefs of \u201cnormalising homelessness on a mass scale and \u201callowing thousands of homeless people to suffer this Christmas\u201d.<\/p>\n Across Scotland<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n More than 2400 homeless people<\/a> reported sleeping rough on the streets.<\/p>\n Homelessness applications soared by nearly a fifth in Dundee and Angus last year, while Edinburgh<\/a> has the highest rate of households in short-term housing, with 178 per 10,000 of all households.<\/p>\n Glasgow<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Scottish Labour<\/a> housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: \u201cThese heartbreaking figures lay bare the true human cost of the SNP\u2019s housing emergency.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year thousands of families in Glasgow alone spent Christmas without a home<\/a> of their own – that is a scandal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had years of warm words from this SNP government<\/a>, but things are worse than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Lib Dem housing spokesman Paul McGarry said: \u201cThe SNP<\/a> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The crisis comes as the city deals with an influx of asylum seekers<\/a>, with leave to remain in the UK, needing homes – which the council has blamed on the Home Office\u2019s policy of emptying asylum hotels.<\/p>\n Data shows, as of November 19, 5678 refugees with leave to remain were living in temporary accommodation in Glasgow<\/a><\/p>\n Tory shadow housing secretary Meghan Gallacher hit out: \u201cThese shocking figures are the predictable result of the SNP government<\/a>\u2019s reckless decision to ditch the local connection rule that has made the city a magnet for illegal migrants.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s compounded the existing housing emergency caused by the rent controls introduced by the SNP and Greens.\u201d<\/p>\n A Glasgow City Council<\/a> spokesman said: \u201cTo be clear, people with no legal right to be in the country cannot access local authority support \u2013 and changes to local connection rules are not relevant to refugees.<\/p>\n Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!<\/p>\n Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.<\/p>\n You’ll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.<\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Handout.jpg\")
Michael O\u2019Neill of the Talbot Association in Glasgow.(Image: Handout)<\/p>\n![\"glasgow](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_27-12-25_Homeless_09JPG.jpg\")
Homeless man Nadeem Lal pictured on Argyle Street Glasgow as the homeless figures soar.(Image: Tony Nicoletti\/Daily Record)<\/p>\n![\"Campaigner](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_RTP_SDR_300925_Energy_Protest_Glasgow_001.jpg\")
Campaigner Sean Clerkin(Image: DAILY RECORD)<\/p>\n![\"glasgow](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_16-12-25_Homeless_26JPG.jpg\")
There are record numbers of homeless people in Glasgow and across Scotland(Image: Tony Nicoletti\/Daily Record)<\/p>\n