FALL IN HOMELESSNESS APPLICATIONS IN FIFE

Published date : 31 Jan 2020

Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP, Jenny Gilruth, has welcomed new figures showing a 9% fall in homelessness applications in Fife.

The figures showed a decline in applications in the between April and September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

The Scottish Government has invested £32.5 million into Rapid Rehousing and Housing First to prioritise permanent, settled accommodation, as the first response to minimise the length of time people spend in temporary accommodation.

The government also changed the Unsuitable Accommodation Order in 2014 so that families with children and pregnant women only stay in accommodation, such as B&Bs, for a maximum of seven days.

Commenting, Ms Gilruth said:

“Everyone should have a home of their own, and any level of homelessness is too high.

“While we must not become complacent, it is very welcome that the number of applications in Fife has fallen.

“The SNP in government is determined to tackle homelessness and good progress is being made on our £50 million Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan.

“It’s now vital that we do all we can to prevent homelessness in the first place, and ensure that when it does happen support is available to move into settled accommodation quickly.”

ENDS

Notes: Full Scottish Government report on the most recent homelessness statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/news/homelessness-statistics/

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