Homeless Edinburgh residents moved out of ‘unlawful’ temporary accommodation

The City of Edinburgh Council plans to move homeless residents out hundreds of unregulated temporary rooms.

At least 700 rooms within 30 properties currently housing homeless residents have failed to meet licensing regulations as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

The Council has prioritised moving the current occupiers to suitable accommodation over non-urgent repairs and new applicants.

There has been growing worries from both shelter charities and housing Edinburgh Councillors regarding the inadequate allocations of accommodation which the Council is available to provide in relation to the escalating number of applicants for temporary housing across the city.

A House of  Multiple Occupation is a title given to properties that both house three or more residents from more than one different households, and who share a kitchen, toilet or bathroom facilities with the other tenants. Landlords must apply for a specific HMO license to be allowed to rent the property out under these conditions.

The city’s council plans to stop paying the unlicensed providers of HMO’s in early December.

Gordon MacRae, assistant director of Shelter Scotland, said: “One year on from declaring a housing emergency, the situation in Edinburgh is at risk of getting worse not better.

“Suspending council housing allocations or legal duties might make the numbers appear better but they will not address the needs of those suffering without a safe secure home.

“Decades of under investment in social housing and poor decisions at every level of government has brought us to this point. Investment and leadership, not cuts and excuses is what we need.”

Edinburgh City Council’s housing convener, Cllr Jane Meagher, said: “With greater numbers of people facing homelessness, some of the most expensive private rents in the UK and insufficient funding from the Scottish Government to build more homes, the pressures on temporary accommodation are unprecedented.

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“The unfortunate reality is that in responding to these pressures we have had to house people in unlicensed HMOs and realise that this can’t continue. We’re in a critical position that means we need to escalate our efforts to address this.”

The Council reiterated that it “urgently needs to move people out of these properties and find alternative temporary accommodation”, sharing its plans to engage with housing providers within the city and ensure the licences meet regulation standards, in hopes of preventing the situation from repeating.

“We’re planning to use existing council stock, speed up the turnaround of void homes to a minimum standard, continue to encourage unlicensed providers to apply for their licence, source other suitable temporary accommodation in the city, and engage with registered social landlords to encourage them to maintain the increased rate of allocations to homeless households.”

Eilidh Keay, Edinburgh City’s chair of Living Rent, a tenants’ union, said: “It is crucial that those in temporary accommodation are moved from unlicensed HMO’s. But it is a shocking indictment of the failings of the City of Edinburgh Council that they were ever moved there in the first place.

“That the council is now unable to take on more applications due to ‘unprecedented pressures’ should and could have been avoided. The shortage of council housing in Edinburgh is having a catastrophic impact on residents. Tenants were already waiting unforgivable lengths of time for a permanent, affordable home in Edinburgh prior to the declaration of the city’s housing emergency”.

Cllr Jane Meagher ends her statement, adding: “This has not been an easy decision to make, and I appreciate how difficult these changes are. I’d urge any tenant who is worried to contact their housing officer for advice and support.”.