Homelessness in Scotland: 2022-23

Characteristics of the homeless population

The following findings provide a broad overview of the characteristics of the homeless population and how they compare to the Scottish (adult) population. They highlight key findings where differences exist for aspects of homelessness across the characteristics of age, gender, and ethnicity. Characteristics are based on those of the main applicant.

Although data is captured for the main applicant and a second applicant where applicable, findings are based on the characteristics of the main applicant only, for ease of reporting. Given the majority of homeless households only contain one adult, this only affects 12% of all households where there are two or more adults.

The characteristics of a household are initially collected by the local authority at the application stage. While it is possible for these characteristics to change between application and case closure, it may not be practical for the data collection to be updated to reflect these changes. Therefore, for a small number of households, the characteristics information reported may be out of date. This is most likely to affect household composition.

Detailed figures are available in accompanying equalities tables from our supporting documents page. Caution should be taken when interpreting results based on small numbers of households. This is particularly true when comparing results for different ethnic groups.

Age

• the homeless population is younger than the overall adult Scottish population (16+)
• reasons and prior circumstances
  • younger people are more likely to become homeless from the family home and for reasons of being asked to leave
  • older people are more likely to become homeless from a private rented tenancy and fail to maintain accommodation due to physical health
• rough sleeping is most common amongst 35 to 64 year olds
• repeat homelessness is least common amongst the very youngest and oldest applicants
• support needs
  • older applicants are more likely to have support needs related to a physical disability or medical condition
  • drug or alcohol dependency is most common amongst 35 to 49 year olds
  • younger applicants are more likely to require basic housing or living skills support
• outcomes
  • for most ages, 82 to 84% secured settled accommodation
  • the exception was 16 to 17 year olds where only 75% secured settled accommodation
  • however, a larger proportion of 16 to 17 year olds returned to previous accommodation or moved in with friends or relatives
• temporary accommodation
  • older applicants are the least likely to take up temporary accommodation whilst younger applicants are the most likely
  • older applicants spent the least amount of time in temporary accommodation – 177 days on average compared to an overall average of 233 days
  • 35 to 49 year olds were most likely not to be offered temporary accommodation and to breach the unsuitable accommodation order

Gender and household type

• 55% of homeless households (main applicant) are male compared to 48% of the adult Scottish population
• reasons and prior circumstances
  • women are more likely to be homeless as a result of a violent or abusive household dispute
• homeless households are more likely to be single adult or single parent compared to the overall population
  • single parent households are more likely to be female – 16% compared to 6% male
  • single person households more likely to be male – 45% compared to 21% female
• rough sleeping and repeat homelessness is more common amongst men
  • 83% of those reported rough sleeping in the previous three months were men
  • 70% of those who had previously been assessed as homeless in the last year were men
• property type homeless from
  • women are more likely to become homelessness from private rented tenancies
  • men are more likely to become homelessness from friends/family and prison
• temporary accommodation
  • single male households are most likely to take up temporary accommodation – 71% compared to 50-58% of all other household types
  • men are much more likely not to be offered temporary accommodation – accounting for 325 out of 445 cases
  • women spent longer in temporary accommodation – an average of 238 days compared to 213 days for men
  • households with children spend longer, on average, in temporary accommodation
• outcomes
  • women are more likely than men to secure settled accommodation – 85% compared to 81% of men
  • single male households are least likely to secure settled accommodation – 79% compared to 81% for single female households and 83% overall
  • households with children are more likely to secure settled accommodation that those without – 88% compared to 81%

Ethnicity

84% of homeless households (main applicant) are of white ethnicity compared to 95% of the adult Scottish population

• rough sleeping most common for White Other British
• Asian households most likely to experience homelessness as a result of violent household disputes
• support needs
  • White other British (58%) and White Scottish (54%) are more likely to have a support need compared to other ethnicities (51% for all)
• temporary accommodation 
  • African and Caribbean or Black most likely to take up temporary accommodation
  • African and White Polish spend, on average, longest in temporary accommodation than other ethnicities – 336 and 334 days respectively compared to 223 overall
  • White Irish and White Other British spent on average less time in temporary accommodation – 190 and 193 days on average respectively
• outcomes
  • Caribbean or Black (93%) and White polish (90%) were most likely to secure settled accommodation compared to 83% overall
  • African households took the longest on average to close a case 413 days compared to 266 overall