Homelessness in Scotland

[5] The Scottish Parliament passed the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 which was introduced to create changes to existing homelessness legislation.

(Scotland) Act 2003 which has an aim of ensuring that by 2012 everyone assessed as being unintentionally homeless will be entitled to permanent accommodation.

In addition, the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order came into force in December 2004 and requires councils to ensure that pregnant women and households with children are not placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

[6] In 2012, the Scottish Parliament passed secondary legislation on housing support services.

The 2012 legislation required local authorities in Scotland to assess housing support needs of homeless applicants within their respective areas.

[3] On 29 November 2022, the Scottish Parliament passed the Homeless Persons (Suspension of Referrals between Local Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2022.

This means that the act gives people in housing crisis the freedom to settle where they choose with access to the support they need, and aims to help them integrate more fully into the local community and to reduce repeat homelessness.

Ultimately, a household can accept or refuse any offers of accommodation put to them by the local authority.