Almost 300 Ukrainian households in Scotland were either made homeless or threatened with homelessness last year, it can be revealed.
The “shocking” figures reveal that there were 290 homelessness applications made from Ukrainian displaced households in 2023-24, with over 100 in Glasgow alone.
The number of live homelessness cases across Scotland hit a record high in 2023-24, with over 10,000 children also living in temporary accommodation.
Shadow housing secretary Miles Briggs says the SNP have “shamefully betrayed” Ukrainians who fled their war-torn homeland.
He says that ministers “spectacularly failed” to deliver on their promises to support Ukrainian refugees through their super sponsor scheme, which had to be paused after only three months.
Miles Briggs added that the SNP need to “come clean” on why Ukrainian households have been abandoned and what support is being provided to them.
Scottish Conservative shadow housing secretary Miles Briggs MSP said: “These shocking figures represent a shameful betrayal of brave Ukrainian refugees by SNP ministers.
“It is scarcely believable that having fled their war-torn homeland and made Scotland their home, that almost 300 of them last year were made homeless or threatened with it.
“SNP ministers, in search of cheap headlines, boasted about how they were going the extra mile to support Ukrainians coming here, but their super sponsor scheme was paused within a matter of months. They spectacularly failed to deliver on their promises.
“Now Ukrainians are being badly impacted by the SNP’s inaction on tackling the national housing emergency.
“The lack of suitable housing for Ukrainians is solely down to the SNP savagely cutting council budgets year after year and leaving them unable to meet demand.
“SNP ministers must come clean on why hundreds of Ukrainian households have been abandoned and urgently outline how they are supporting them.”
Notes
There were 290 homelessness applications made by Ukrainian households in 2023-24, with two-fifths of these in Glasgow. 265 Ukrainian households have been assessed as unintentionally homeless or threatened with homelessness between April 2023 and March 2024. 115 of these households were in Glasgow. (Ukrainian displaced households’ tables – Homeless in Scotland 2023-24, the Scottish Government, 24 September 2024, link).