Words by Scotland Reporter Vanessa Taaffe and Scotland Producer Stephanie Docherty
Danielle Quigley and her six children are homeless.
“I’m on a mattress on the floor. It’s the only solution I could come to. What else can you do?” she told ITV News.
“It’s just such a stress. You’re sitting here at the mercy of the local authority.”
The family has been forced to live in emergency accommodation in Lanark, provided by South Lanarkshire Council, after her landlord of 14 years decided to sell the home they were renting.
But this temporary home is overcrowded, leaving Danielle with no other option but to sleep on a mattress on the floor so she can give her kids a bed.
And it’s anything but temporary.
Danielle has been told she can expect to live here for some time, as there are so few family-sized homes available.
“Looking at the market, and what the council has said, the chances of us getting a four-bedroom house are slim to none.”
The family is among a rising number who are finding themselves homeless in Scotland, according to new figures.
Over the course of the 2021 to 2026 Parliament, rough sleeping has more than doubled, overall homelessness has gone up nearly 20%, and the number of children in temporary accommodation has gone up 26% – the highest level since records began.
The number of people assessed as homeless and seeking support has fallen, which the government says is encouraging, but campaigners say not enough is being done to solve the worsening crisis.
The Scottish Government has published its latest homelessness figures and, with just 3 months to the next Scottish Parliament elections, it isn’t good reading for the SNP:
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A record number of 10,480 children are homeless and living in temporary accommodation.
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The number of households in temporary accommodation also reached a new record high of 18,092, a 9% increase over the previous year.
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The number of live homeless applications is also the highest on record, at 33,006.
These numbers show that Scotland is in the grips of a housing emergency, with the number of children trapped in emergency accommodation also on the rise.
One of the key issues for campaigners is that more than £100 million pounds was spent on homeless hotels in Scotland in 2024/2025, another figure that has been on the rise.
Paula told ITV News Scotland Reporter Vanessa Taffee she felt safer sleeping in the woods of a local park than the accommodation she was provided with
Paula was one of those people placed in a homeless hotel last year, which she claimed was filled with drugs, violence and sex work.
She felt so unsafe that she chose to sleep rough in a Glasgow park for nearly four months instead of living in one of the hotels.
She told ITV News: “As strange as it sounds, I was actually happier here than I was in accommodation. The drug situation, folk coming to your door, stuff you don’t need when you’re going through hell.
“You’re targeted, you’re classed as vulnerable, targeted by sex offenders, predators… classed as a prostitute. You’re classed as junkie.
“I actually stood in a corner of this park with six litres of water, soap, and a sponge. To get washed. Dignity goes right out the window.”
Paula has now been placed in an emergency, temporary flat, provided by Glasgow City Council.
But she said the area where her flat is, is not safe for her and can’t be a long-term solution.
There are only a handful of women-only homeless facilities in Scotland, with demand far outweighing supply.
It’s a similar story across the rest of the UK, except for Northern Ireland, who have a dedicated women’s homeless centre.
Laura Jones from the Scottish Tenants Organisation said: “We would like to see the Scottish Government step in, and take, a serious look at how homeless services are being delivered in the city and in other cities across Scotland.
“The money is there. We are actually throwing money away a lot of the time.
“So frequently this is presented and framed as a resource issue, but actually, it’s just that we’re not behaving in a competent manner.
“We’re not looking at where the funding is actually required and how it can be used to actually help people out of these situations.”
Commenting on today’s statistics, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing Màiri McAllan said: “The number of people assessed as homeless and seeking support for homelessness has fallen and with so much work done in recent months, this is encouraging.
“However, there is still much to do and we are determined to turn the tide and ensure everyone has the opportunity of a place to call home.
“The figures do speak to the severe pressure that services are under due to the Home Office’s mismanagement of the asylum system, particularly in Glasgow.
“The UK Government must provide additional support for Glasgow City Council. I have written to UK Immigration Minister Alex Norris to request an urgent meeting with him and Glasgow City Council.
“To end homelessness, we must deliver more affordable homes and ensure people are supported to prevent homelessness happening in the first place.”
But housing charities warns these high levels of homelessness are becoming normalised.
Shelter Scotland is calling for new money and a new approach after, what they say has been decades of underinvestment in social housing across Scotland and the UK.
The charity says that a failure to prioritise fixing Scotland’s broken and biased housing system will lead to rising homelessness and further cuts to local services unless the next Scottish Government act.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson says: “We welcomed the intent behind the First Minister’s plan for a national housing agency last week. But intent alone won’t build homes. Without the funding to match the ambition, homelessness will only rise. And we need the new agency to deliver for the people waiting for a home.
“We must be clear about the cost of failure. Failing to build the social homes we need means more families waking up without a place to call home, more children trapped in temporary accommodation and in poverty with rising costs for councils, health boards and the taxpayer. We can’t afford not to invest in Scotland’s future.”
A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council, which provides accommodation for Paula, said: “The city is in a housing emergency.
“We have limited accommodation which leads to higher numbers in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
“While we do not refuse accommodation to those who are entitled to it, there are difficulties in securing places late at night.
“We continue to work closely with partners to manage the increased demand and urge anyone who knows they do not have a place to go to get in touch via the appropriate route as early as possible.”
Danielle’s accommodation provider said they can’t comment on individual cases but told us the council is experiencing extremely challenging circumstances, which are being mirrored across Scotland and that where homelessness does occur, they aim to resolve it as swiftly as they can.
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