I don’t suppose anybody would argue that stopping homelessness makes good sense. The present Scottish Authorities session on proposed new duties to assist forestall homelessness subsequently appears a no brainer. Nonetheless, we consider that one of many proposals, which is able to take away individuals’s proper to a everlasting house, presents a considerable danger to the Scottish rights-based system for individuals experiencing homelessness – and can improve homelessness moderately than scale back it.
We have been happy to take part within the Prevention Evaluate Group (PRG), and we share the sector extensive aspiration to make sure and allow public our bodies, past the housing and homelessness sector, to supply the required assist to stop homelessness wherever attainable.
Most of the proposals from the PRG group within the authorities session would introduce essential and constructive modifications for individuals vulnerable to homelessness. We wholeheartedly assist and would in actual fact encourage the Scottish Authorities to introduce these measures as quickly as attainable:
- Extending the definition of threatened with homelessness from two to 6 months
- Introducing duties on public our bodies to ask and act in the event that they consider somebody is vulnerable to homelessness
- Defining in laws cheap steps that native authorities ought to take to assist somebody who’s threatened with homelessness
If enacted, and, importantly, if adequately resourced, we consider these insurance policies would assist scale back the quantity of people that expertise the disaster of homelessness.
Nonetheless, for us the litmus take a look at for any modifications to Scotland’s homelessness rights have to be that they’ll scale back housing inequality and improve current homelessness rights and protections. The proposals contained within the prevention responsibility session go far past stopping homelessness, with a big proportion specializing in the native authority’s responsibility to people who’ve already been assessed as statutorily homeless.
One such proposal is to take away individuals’s proper to everlasting lodging, or a Scottish Safe or Personal Residential Tenancy, and change it with ‘steady’ lodging. We strongly oppose this proposal and see it as an pointless dilution of Scotland statutory rights. Secure housing with little or no actual safety of tenure shouldn’t be the precept we’re aspiring to in our homelessness system. Safety of tenure is essential in stopping future homelessness. Additional, if we’re taking a human-rights based mostly method, we must be progressively realising the human proper to sufficient housing inside Scotland. This proper features a sturdy emphasis on safety of tenure: housing will not be sufficient if its occupants would not have a level of tenure safety which ensures authorized safety towards pressured evictions, harassment and different threats. The proposed modifications are in direct battle with realising the UN proper to sufficient housing.
The proposals indicate modifications are required to make sure that homeless households are in a position to entry the identical set of housing choices obtainable to the non-homeless inhabitants, together with offering supported lodging through occupancy agreements. We consider enabling native authorities to discharge responsibility to those that have already skilled the trauma of homelessness into lodging with out safety of tenure is non-sensical, significantly when the underlying precept is to stop homelessness. As an alternative, we have now recognized an alternate legislative change round discharging responsibility into supported lodging. We consider this could meet the coverage aspirations of alternative and management while defending the intention of the Scottish rights-based system and negating the necessity to scale back rights.
Whereas we’re nonetheless working via the prolonged session, we have now revealed a abstract paper outlining our considerations and counter proposal, which is obtainable on our coverage library.
To unravel the housing and homelessness emergency in Scotland and realise the human proper to sufficient housing, we should strengthen the housing rights framework, not weaken it. We should then make sure that people are conscious of their rights and are in a position to implement them. Offering sufficient assets is crucial if public our bodies are to ship on their statutory obligations and to allow native authorities and others to proceed to roll out the numerous good follow examples that exist in stopping homelessness. Additional, if we wish actual alternative for individuals experiencing homelessness – we’d like homes! The Scottish Authorities should subsequently make good on its promise to safe supply of 110,000 new reasonably priced properties, together with 70% for social hire, by 2032 with a view to guarantee anybody confronted with homelessness is ready to entry a social house that meets their wants. Social housing ends homelessness, and within the run as much as the elections in Might, we’re urging our council leaders to decide to constructing secure and everlasting social properties, to raise kids caught in non permanent lodging in Scotland out of homelessness.
For extra info go to: scotland.shelter.org.uk/campaigning/social_housing_ends_homelessness.
