Those interviewed spoke of experience violence, vermin, isolation, ill health and financial penalties simply because their family could not find a home without the help of the local authority.
‘In Their Own Words: Children’s Experiences in Temporary Accommodation‘, led by world-leading experts at De Montford University and University College London, spoke to children and their families currently struggling with the housing system.
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The Scottish Government’s own statistics showed that last year 15,474 children became homeless and there are now a record 10,360 children in temporary homes.
Despite a promise to cut the number of households in temporary accommodation by the end of this parliament, the numbers have risen every year since the election. The number of children in temporary accommodation has increased by 149% since 2014.
The mother of a six-year-old autistic child spoke of being hospitalised due to the unsafe home they were placed in, while primary school aged children spoke of the impact on their education of being forced miles away from their school.
A 14-year-old boy and his 17-year-old sister told researchers there had been a stabbing near their temporary accommodation.
Researchers found consistently poor housing experiences as described by children between the ages of five and 18 and parents of 0-4year-olds who also spoke of challenges in living in such environments affecting their sense of security, their physical, mental, and social health, as well as schooling and development with academic engagement and peer relationship suffering as a result.
“Many highlighted the impact of not only the state of temporary accommodation – such as mould, vermin and overcrowding – but also the system around it as having detrimental effects on children’s lives.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “The findings of this research should shame us all. We, as a nation are failing those children trapped in our broken and biased homelessness system. Every child in Scotland has the right to grow up in a safe, secure and affordable home. Experiencing homelessness as a child should not be traumatic and filled with worry but it seems that for the 10,360 who will wake up tomorrow without a home, their problems feel never ending.
“Temporary accommodation forms an important part of people’s rights. Everyone experiencing homelessness should be given access to temporary housing while they await the outcome of their application. It should act as a safety net and a first step out of crisis, rather than causing a new crisis in itself. What has become clear from this research is that for children, unfortunately, their experience is all too often the latter.
“This research shows clearly that it is now more important than ever that all levels of government need to tackle the housing emergency and protect thousands of Scotland’s children from further harm.
“Children have bravely shared their experiences. Their stories don’t just demand to be heard — they demand urgent action.
“This is our wakeup call.”
Following the release of its own numbers on children in temporary accommodation, the Scottish Government said: “We are determined to reverse that trend and we are taking decisive action to ensure no one need experience the trauma of being homeless.
“The key to tackling homelessness is delivering more homes and we have a strong track record in doing so having supported the delivery of 135,000 affordable homes since 2007. That’s 47% more per head of population than England and 73% more than Wales.
“We are also targeting funding in areas where housing capacity needs to be increased most.
“This includes £42m to the five local authorities with the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures to increase supply through buying back properties and bringing long-term empty homes back into use.”