Homelessness in Scotland: update to 30 September 2025

Main findings: April to September 2025

• There were 20,643 homelessness applications; a decrease of 2%.
• There was a corresponding decrease in households assessed as homeless while continued increases in temporary accommodation and open applications.
  • There were 17,291 households assessed as homeless compared to 17,670 the previous year. This is a 2% decrease.
  • There were 18,092 households in temporary accommodation at 30 September 2025, compared to 16,634 in 2024. This is a 9% increase.
  • There were 10,480 children in temporary accommodation as at 30 September 2025 compared to 10,360 in 2024. This is a 1% increase.
  • There were 33,006 open homelessness applications at 30 September 2025, compared to 31,882 in 2024. This is a 4% increase.
• Temporary accommodation
  • The average time spent in temporary accommodation for cases that closed was 237 days, the same as 2024.
  • There were 10,710 instances of households not being offered temporary accommodation. This is notably higher than 7,565 in 2024.
  • There were 3,635 breaches of the unsuitable accommodation order. A decrease of 12%.
• Continued increases in the reporting of rough sleeping. The latest figures show 1,083 households reported rough sleeping during the three months prior to their application and 784 households applicants reported rough sleeping the night before.
• Outcomes
  • There was a 6% decrease in the number of cases closed.
  • 83% of unintentionally homeless households secured settled accommodation where the outcome was known.
• Characteristics:
  • 16% of applications were from households granted refugee / leave to remain status.
  • 4% decrease in adults and 14% decrease in children in homeless households.
  • More single male (50% compared to 46%) and less single female parent households (13% compared to 15%).
  • Proportion of main applicants with white ethnicity have reduced over the years (84% in 2023 to 79% in 2024 to 75% in 2025).