Edinburgh to turn 67 student flats into homeless hostel
Shelter Scotland welcomed the "emergency response taken in exceptional circumstances," however said it was "not a long-term solution".
Edinburgh's housing emergency has continued to escalate in the first half of this year after the council was forced to cease its use of some hotels and B&Bs.
By purchasing rooms in temporary accommodation units functioning as unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), the council was effectively enabling property owners to violate licensing laws. The council's own lawyers sounded the alarm late last year, warning that the practice had to stop, and while some of the properties were granted emergency HMO licences, others failed to obtain them. This left the authority with 500 fewer available bed spaces in hotels and B&Bs overnight, exacerbating the homelessness crisis even further.
Three months later, in March, the council failed to find accommodation for homeless households on 750 occasions – representing 57.9% of all cases where people presented as homeless over the month. Meanwhile, there was a notable rise in the number of people rough sleeping, from 37 to 59 'unique individuals' known to the council.
With the pressure mounting, in April councillors agreed to suspend the lettings policy and prioritise spaces in available council homes for people still being housed in B&Bs and hotels classed as 'unsuitable' under Scottish Government legislation.
The decision to buy a five-storey block of student flats and apply for change of use comes as part of the council's wider strategy to ensure it has enough temporary accommodation suitable for long-term occupation.
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Objectors to the planning application included Edinburgh's heritage watchdog, the Cockburn Association. It complained the application "does not clarify if acceptable space standards for residential use are present or can be achieved," and did not include details of "the actual or potential impacts of this proposal on the local community".
Local residents also feared the change of use would increase anti-social behaviour issues in the area and argued the block should instead be repurposed as social housing.
Officials have stated that a 'large and increasing' number of 'non-preventable' homelessness cases originating from outside the city is making it increasingly difficult to keep up with demand.
Work is also ongoing to bring void council homes back into use to alleviate housing pressures. With around 700 across the city as of March, officials said this number could be cut in half over the next year.
Gordon MacRae, Shelter Scotland's assistant director of communications and advocacy, told The Herald the charity "welcome the City of Edinburgh Council taking steps to address the housing emergency".
He said: 'With nearly three in five homelessness presentations not being provided with temporary accommodation when required, and with hundreds placed in unsuitable housing, this is an emergency response taken in exceptional circumstances.
'The Council is facing an impossible task without enough homes or resources.
"We know this situation has not emerged overnight; it is the result of decades of underinvestment in social housing and a failure to provide councils with the tools and resources they need to fulfil their legal duties.
'However, this is not a long-term solution. We urgently need the Scottish Government to do more to support City of Edinburgh Council to meet its duties and to ensure everyone has a safe, secure and affordable home.'
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