Scottish housing crisis is making people suicidal, industry warns

A housing industry leader has said the Scottish housing crisis is causing people to have suicidal thoughts.

Susie Fitton from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) told MSPs on Thursday that social landlords speak to people “expressing suicidal thoughts about their housing issues” on a regular basis.

The SFHA policy manager told MSPs on Holyrood’s social justice and social security committee that over one in ten staff, on a daily or weekly basis, had spoken to applicants expressing suicidal thoughts about their housing issues.q

Ms Fitton added: “This really is the side of the housing emergency that doesn’t really get talked about very often.”

She said the issue had been raised at the SFHA annual conference earlier this week when “somebody said ‘we need registered social landlords in Scotland to stop people from feeling like they need to kill themselves because of their housing situation’”.

She also told the committee that demand for social housing – provided by councils and housing associations – is “obviously outstripping supply in many areas”.

MSPs took evidence on the housing crisis on Thursday morning as at least 12 councils have already declared local housing emergencies.

The first was declared by Argyll and Bute Council in June 2023. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife and West Dunbartonshire Councils followed suit.

The Scottish Government formally declared a national housing emergency on May 15, 2024.

Nationally, 17,424 households were classed as either being homeless or threatened with homelessness between April 1 and September 30 last year.

As of September 30, there were a record 16,634 households living in temporary accommodation – which included 10,360 children.

Tony Cain, from the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO), told MSPs: “It doesn’t matter where you are in Scotland, there is a shortage of social rented homes, it is as simple as that.

“There are more people looking for a social rented home than there are homes available each year to meet their needs.”

While he stressed the importance of “plotting a way out of the housing emergency”, he also said there is a need to ensure “those who are caught up in it are safe”.

Noting 242 people who had been in contact with services to help the homeless had died in 2022-23, he insisted not enough resources are being put into supporting vulnerable households.

Mr Cain said: “The right support at the right moment makes a big difference and we are simply not putting enough resources into support services to understand people’s needs, the risks that they face and to keep them safe.

“So as well as finding a way out, safely managing services to people who are caught in it is critical.

“We need to be offering more support to vulnerable households and we aren’t resourced to do that at the moment.”