Homelessness in Scotland: More Households Need Help, and Families Face Long Stays in Temporary Accommodation

The Scottish Government released its latest homelessness statistics for Scotland for 2025-2026 on 22 September 2026, covering the period from April 2025 to March 2026. The figures show a slight rise in homelessness applications, alongside much larger increases in open cases and households living in temporary accommodation.

More than 35,000 households were assessed as homeless during the year. There were 41,443 homelessness applications, up from 41,246 the previous year. Of these, 35,002 households were assessed as homeless — the highest number since 2011-2012. On 31 March 2026, 19,004 households were in temporary accommodation, up 10% from the previous year.

The 35,002 homeless households included 53,842 people: 39,420 adults and 14,422 children. While the number of adults changed little, the number of children in homeless households fell by 10%. However, 10,715 children were living in temporary accommodation at the end of March.

Homelessness varied significantly across Scotland. Edinburgh recorded the largest numerical increase in applications, up 536 (14%), followed by Aberdeen City, up 379 (22%). Glasgow recorded the largest decrease, down 450 (5%). Nationally, 136 households per 10,000 were assessed as homeless, compared with 223 in Glasgow City and 51 in East Dunbartonshire.

The most common reason for an application was being asked to leave (25%), followed by non-violent household or relationship disputes (18%) and violent or abusive disputes (13%). Family and friends were the most common sources of accommodation from which people became homeless.

Rough sleeping also increased. Ten per cent of applications reported rough sleeping during the previous three months, while 7% reported sleeping rough the previous night. Half of homeless households reported at least one support need.

Temporary accommodation remains a major concern. Households who used it spent an average of 237 days there. Those with children spent longer than households without children. There were also 21,800 instances where temporary accommodation was not offered, up from 16,460 the previous year.

For households whose unintentionally homeless cases closed with a known outcome and who maintained contact, 83% secured settled accommodation. The process can nevertheless be lengthy. On average, applications took 17 days to be assessed, followed by an average of 277 days from assessment to case closure for homeless households.

The statistics also show differences in who is affected. The homeless population is younger than Scotland’s population overall: 31% of homeless households were aged 25-34, and another 31% were aged 35-49. Men accounted for 60% of homeless households, compared with 48% of the Scottish population. Homeless households were also more likely to be single-person households or single-parent families.

The proportion identifying as White was lower among homeless households than in Scotland’s population overall: 74% compared with 95%.

Behind these statistics are people and families looking for somewhere safe to call home. For the Catholic Church, homelessness is a question of human dignity, compassion and justice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes “sheltering the homeless” as one of the corporal works of mercy.

Pope Francis addressed the issue directly when he met people experiencing homelessness at St Patrick’s Parish in Washington, DC, on 24 September 2015. Reflecting on the lack of housing, he said, “There is no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing.”

In Laudato si’, Pope Francis writes that “having a home has much to do with a sense of personal dignity and the growth of families.”

For a country where more than 10,000 children were living in temporary accommodation at the end of March 2026, that connection between a home, dignity and family life gives these statistics a deeply human dimension.