Temporary Permanence
This year sees the third iteration of GO Justice’s Journalism for Social Change Project. The initiative was designed to support students interested in social justice to develop their journalistic writing skills and create a finished piece of writing for publication.
A small group of students was selected to work with a journalist to learn writing techniques and develop story ideas before working on a draft for publication.
The School of Law is delighted to be publishing this series as part of Pro Bono Week 2026, 2 November - 6 November. You can find details of the activities that GO Justice is running as part of Pro Bono Week on the GO Justice Centre LinkedIn page.
By Joshua Power
In Scotland, more than 10,700 children are trapped in temporary accommodation such as hostels, B&Bs and short-term flats. More concerning is how long they stay there. Couples with children spent an average of 406 days in temporary accommodation compared with 230 days for households without children.
Temporary homeless accommodation has become a seemingly permanent reality for many, and Scotland’s future is bearing the brunt of the issue.
Scottish Parliament legislation sets out safeguards for temporary accommodation. It states that housing must be wind and watertight, and meet minimum safety standards, while requiring that local authorities genuinely take the household’s needs into account when deciding if accommodation is a fit for them. Councils also have to think about people’s access to essentials, like schools and healthcare, and protect them from overcrowding. These standards were put in place with, in theory, some recognition of temporary accommodation as a first step out of crisis – not as replacement for a permanent home.
But the reality of life in temporary accommodation sits in damning contrast to the protections outlined by the law.
The Scottish Government reported nearly 7,800 breaches of the legislation across 20 local authorities between 2025 and 2026. While these figures highlight a complete failure to comply with legal requirements, they also show the grim reality of how unsuitable temporary accommodation is for thousands of households.
But it is the children I most feel for. For them, the question is not how long they must wait for a permanent home, but rather how their futures are being shaped while they wait.
The account of an 11-year-old girl – who felt ashamed and “disgusted” by her living conditions – was one of many published in a 2025 research paper from Shelter Scotland. She explained that she felt unable to invite her friends home to play, saying: “they would find it disgusting as well to be honest”. Her words reveal how unsuitable living conditions can undermine children’s confidence and dignity, preventing them from enjoying an ordinary childhood.
People already struggling to stay afloat financially are overwhelmingly more likely to land in temporary accommodation, yet it can end up costing them more. Some households are forced to take out fresh utility contracts and new furniture every time they are tossed from one accommodation to another. Others are housed far from their schools, workplaces and healthcare services, forcing them to pay huge travel expenses. The report found that one mother paid up to £600 per month on taxis to take her child to nursery, medical appointments and shopping. To save money, she had to stop her child from going to nursery.
Poor cooking facilities also meant many relied on expensive microwaveable meals or takeaways. For homeless families with very limited incomes, these are not minor expenses. They are hidden costs pushing families further into poverty. The report documents an array of other issues including totally unsuitable living conditions, constant movement from one temporary placement to another, mould and damp, exposure to crime and overcrowding. These are not simple inconveniences, they are harmful experiences shaping the lives of these children every day.
A home should be a place where a child can, at the very least, feel settled. Yet when temporary accommodation becomes a prolonged substitute for permanent housing, thousands of children are being robbed of the stability they deserve during the vital years of their development.
The consequences extend beyond housing. Scotland cannot hope to eradicate child poverty without confronting the housing emergency. The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 established four interim targets for reducing child poverty by 2023-24, alongside final targets for 2030-31. All interim targets were missed. Housing insecurity is not the sole cause of child poverty, but it is certainly a pressing factor which needs to be tackled now.
But what is the solution? Scrap temporary accommodation altogether? Legal reform?
No. The solution must begin with social housing.
The transition from temporary to permanent accommodation is solely dependent on the availability of suitable, affordable homes. However, this is where the chain has jammed. There are not enough permanent homes for homeless households to move into.
Increasing the supply of social homes would enable more homeless households to move into permanent housing. From there, children would finally have a foundation, a stable place for growth. The objective is not to eradicate temporary accommodation, it is to ensure that children are not stuck in it for years.
The extent of the challenge is clear. The Scottish Government has promised to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with 70% of these for social rent. Since the project began in 2023, around 36,500 homes have been delivered. Shelter Scotland argues that 15,693 social homes must be built every year to tackle homelessness. Meeting this is essential if Scotland is to put an end to the chaos that has been created.
In fairness, the Scottish Government has taken steps in a positive direction. Its spending plans for 2026-27 included a further £158 million boost to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, bringing the total to £926 million, representing a 20% increase from last year’s budget. But the government has given us hope before. In 2024, John Swinney, the First Minister, stated that eradicating child poverty was his “single most important objective”. We need actions, not words, as the number of children in temporary accommodation continues to rise. We cannot continue to treat the housing crisis and child poverty as separate issues when the lives of so many children are being tarnished.
More social housing will relieve the financial strain on families, speed up the transition from temporary to permanent accommodation and, vitally, give children the stability of a safe place to call home. The government’s commitment to building more social homes must only be the start of sustained investment. Ambition must translate into social housing as this will create the positive change these children need. Temporary accommodation should be a bridge out of homelessness, not a place where childhood is put on hold.
Joshua Lachlan Power is a 3rd year Scots Law student at the University of Glasgow.
