YOUTH homelessness in Scotland could be better tackled by giving young people a room in a private house where the owner has been trained and supported to help look after them.
That’s the finding of a new report which is calling for the urgent introduction of a supported lodgings model to address youth homelessness.
The model is already used in some areas of the UK, the USA and Canada but is not currently available as a widespread response to youth homelessness in Scotland.
Now a report for charity Shelter Scotland, authored by Heriot-Watt University, is calling for a funded pilot to be introduced to reduce reliance on hostel and B&B accommodation.
While levels of youth homelessness have been falling in Scotland, 16 to 24-year-olds remain heavily over-represented in the homeless population. Official statistics show that during 2016/17, 1755 temporary accommodation placements for young people were into hostels and 670 into B&Bs, despite these kinds of accommodations often being unsuitable for their needs.
In contrast, supported lodgings provide young people with a room of their own in the home of a vetted and trained private household, with support provided to both the host household and young person from a specialist organisation.
The model allows young people to live in a secure and safe environment in which they can build up their independent living and life skills, and progress towards a range of positive outcomes including education and employment, according to the report.
“The findings provide strong support for the development and growth of supported lodgings schemes in Scotland, targeting young people who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness,” said Dr Beth Watts from Heriot-Watt University who led the research.
“It’s clear there is an urgent need. Existing accommodation options for young people are inadequate. Despite improvements in recent years, too many young people are still living in B&B and hostel accommodation at some point in their ‘homelessness journey’, an experience they can find isolating, intimidating and even harmful. For those that move into independent housing before they want to or with insufficient support, there is a heightened risk that the tenancy can break down.”
Utilising this research, Shelter Scotland has developed a model for how these services could be delivered in Scotland.
George Drennan-Lang, head of business development at Shelter Scotland, said: “We hear every day from young people facing homelessness who desperately need help. We think a supported lodgings service, with specially trained hosts, would provide some young people with the secure home environment they need to help move forward in life.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here