THE homelessness crisis in Dumfries and Galloway is so bad that housing officers are being forced to put people up in caravans.
And, at any one time, there could be homeless people staying in 50 bed and breakfast properties across the region.
Housing chiefs at Dumfries and Galloway Council this week admitted they are under serious pressure trying to provide enough temporary accommodation.
They are also turning to housing associations and private landlords in a desperate bid to access more properties for the influx of emergency homelessness cases.
Speaking at the communities committee on Tuesday, council officer Lorna Campbell revealed: “We’re open to all options for accommodation. We’ve used caravans where we’ve had to, but it all comes back to the unsuitable accommodation order, so we have to be careful on what types of accommodation (we use).
“But we’ve been open to talking to any owners of properties to look at what we can use.
“I’m pleased to say that this month our use of bed and breakfast has come down. We were up to 50 placements, this week we’re down to 29 placements.
“So, it’s going in the right direction, but obviously that depends on demand. The demand this year is slightly down on the same period last year.”
A new five-year homelessness strategy was discussed by councillors, and a report highlighted how covid, followed by the cost of living crisis, had resulted in more people presenting as homeless.
Dumfries and Galloway saw 1252 applications in 2022/23 – the highest level for over 12 years.
Annandale South Councillor Sean Marshall said: “It’s about trying to get away from this reliance on bed and breakfasts and hotel accommodation.
“We’re actually going the other way because of those impacts.
“The only short-term alternative at the moment is relying on houses being leased by the housing associations to provide those temporary accommodations, or the private landlord market.
“When do we get to a situation where we need to look at other alternatives?”
Lorna Campbell replied that council officers are having ongoing discussions with housing associations providing extra temporary accommodation, and that ten properties are currently being looked at for transfer to the council’s homeless team, along with three more houses with private landlords.
Committee chairman Councillor Ian Blake added: “I’m sure that members will recognise the significant national challenges that we face in continuing to address homelessness.
“All partners working together has never been more important.”
Regular updates have been requested.
