Rise in teens requiring housing support

THE number of teenagers requiring housing support in Dumfries and Galloway is on the rise, a new report has revealed.
Dumfries and Galloway Council has a dedicated housing support outreach service, which provides support in helping people settle into a new tenancy – or those threatened with losing a roof over their head.
This team may assist with understanding tenancy rights, debt counselling, or directing people to other bodies that can support their welfare.
The number of such cases has jumped from 259 in 2022 to 434 in 2023, according to a new housing support report which will be tabled at the council’s communities committee next Tuesday.
The report adds: “There has been a notable rise in the number of 16 to 17 year olds requiring support, increasing from 35 in 2021/22 to 52 in 2022/23 (+48 percent).
“This is reflective of the increased number of homeless presentations from this age group in 2022/23.”
In the first half of last year, figures showed that a teenager becomes homeless in Dumfries and Galloway every week.
In the first quarter of 2022/23, 15 youngsters sought emergency help from Dumfries and Galloway Council’s homelessness team.
That’s 15 cases in just 13 weeks.
Aged just 16 or 17, some of these teens were still in full-time education when found themselves without a roof over their head.