Amendments to Housing (Scotland) Bill to prevent homelessness

Amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill will mean that there will be greater support to prevent people experiencing the trauma of homelessness.

The Bill currently places a stronger importance on preventing homelessness through ‘ask and act’ duties on social landlords and relevant bodies, such as Health Boards, Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service, to inquire about a person’s housing situation early on and act to avoid them becoming homeless as soon as possible.

The amendments to the Bill, thanks to help from homelessness charities like Crisis, will ensure people get the help that they need. They will also require a range of services to do more to prevent homelessness and to co-operate, share information and will be specific on what is required of them to help people remain in their homes, supported by £4 million pilot programmes in 2025-26.

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “We want Scotland to be a world leader in homelessness prevention. We already have the strongest homeless rights in the world, but we want to go even further. These changes to the Housing Bill will increase the likelihood that people will receive help before reaching the point of crisis.

“Making sure everyone has the right to a safe and stable home is essential to the Scottish Government’s priority of ending child poverty and the Bill will play a role in reaching that goal.

“Working closely with our partners including Crisis, we have developed a set of amendments that further strengthens rights and gives people the help they need by ensuring that preventing homelessness becomes a collective responsibility across society.

“These amendments will have a lasting, positive impact for many households, and I urge Parliament to back them when they come to a vote.”