Having a decent home has been central to Glasgow’s approach to improving the lives of residents.

In recent decades every neighbourhood has undergone a remarkable transformation, with Glasgow shedding its unenviable tag of having some of Western Europe’s worst social housing to now providing high-quality, energy-efficient and modern homes.

Just a few years back, the crisis-ridden homelessness service the SNP administration in the city inherited in 2017 had been improved to the extent that, working alongside partners, rough sleeping had been all but eradicated in Glasgow. This isn’t to deny that homelessness has been a persistent challenge here and across the UK.

Decades of political policies and decisions which deepen inequalities and force people into destitution come with a heavy cost. But since the pandemic, Glasgow’s progress has been at risk of being rolled back on, with more people making homelessness applications and unprecedented pressures being placed on housing supply.

The cost-of-living crisis, rampant fuel and food prices and savage welfare cuts have been key contributors, as well as the impact of Covid on people’s mental health and well-being. The availability of homes has also been impacted by recent legislative changes on cities like Glasgow, alongside our willingness to step up to assist those fleeing war in Afghanistan, Ukraine and other conflict areas.

We now expect the UK Government in the coming weeks to begin processing asylum applications in numbers that cities, left entirely unsupported, are not equipped to deal with. The result will be hundreds, potentially thousands, of refugees and asylum seekers forced out of their accommodation and seeking shelter.

The SNP city administration has recognised we’ve been heading towards a crisis point for some time and engaged with both governments around addressing that. In recent days we’ve publicly identified this crisis as a housing emergency, a move which also brings expectations on the council to deliver on our emergency plans. 

This can’t be done in isolation. It needs both governments to work with us.

The Scottish Government has been building social and affordable homes at a record level, with almost 125,000 delivered since 2007 and a further 110,000 committed to by 2032. The supply of affordable housing per head of population is also considerably more than England and Wales.

But while Glasgow is committed to around 7500 new homes in the next five years, more is required to meet demand. We need financial assistance so more derelict land can be made available for housing. We need help in turning hundreds of empty properties into homes as soon as possible and have asked for the flexibility to use funding to acquire empty homes. Given current pressures, this may need to be Glasgow’s main area of focus for the near future. 

The overall aim is that people spend as little time as possible in temporary accommodation and secure a home as soon as possible, especially the vulnerable and those with families. But due to circumstances beyond our control, we may need to take emergency measures. That means getting a roof over people’s heads throughout the winter, even if that doesn’t meet the standards we usually aspire to. With Scottish Government assistance, we can get on top of this emergency and get back on track in delivering decent homes.

The emergency response must, however, be followed by a sustained effort which deals with the longer-term causes of homelessness. And to a much more significant degree, this falls to the UK Government.

We need it to change tack on its plans to mass process asylum applications and to properly resource host cities in dealing with any resulting surge in homelessness applications. And UK ministers need to respond to the catastrophic impact of Brexit on house-building targets.

But the Tories also can’t ignore their hand in the UK’s deepening financial inequalities and the resulting levels of homelessness. While a second decade of ideologically driven austerity is reversing life expectancy levels, welfare cuts, benefits sanctions and delays continue to drive up levels of homelessness. The political choices the Tories continue to make are forcing more and more people across the UK into relying on charities and onto the streets.

Furthermore, any incoming Labour government committed to addressing homelessness can’t hide behind fiscal rules and claims of prudence while hammering the poorest with its promised continuity of Tory welfare agendas. Anything less from Sir Keir Starmer is contemptible hypocrisy amounting to Austerity 2.0.

Yes, we need to address homelessness. We are in an emergency, but we can’t brush aside the many causes of homelessness. Glasgow has a plan for doing its bit. We need the Government to work with us and commit now.