There’s no pretty way of saying this… and things could get confusing…

For 2010-11 (most recent published data) 55,227 people across Scotland made a

homeless application

40,807 were assessed and found to be homeless

Of those 40,807

14,595 were between 16 and 25

or 36% of total number of homeless people.

By comparison…

Number of 16-25s in Scotland= 600,000*Which is 12% of the total populationor2.4 % of total under 16-25s in Scotland

were assessed as homeless during 2010-11(Worst clip art ever!)

(* from 2001 Census figures)

In addition, most recent stats show :

4,504 young people “ceased to be looked after” last year.

Of these 185 were directly assessed as homeless.

In total2,332 young people aged 16-25 who have

previously been looked after* were assessed as homeless last year

That’s 16% of the total 16-25s who were assessed as homeless

Or 6% *of the total of those assessed as homeless

At homelessness assessment interviews people are asked if they were ever looked after: this is sub divided into in the past 5 years or longer than 5 years ago.

The 6% figure is only for those under 25. There are many more people who have previously been looked after who either have refused to answer or who have chosen not tell the truth about a past in care. E.g. There are 1824 people in the current stats who refused to answer.

If even half of them had previously been looked after, then the percentage of those assessed as homeless could rise to around 22% of all 16-25s assessed as homeless or 8% of total

Why this matters:

Personal: disruptive, damaging, dispiriting, divisive, dangerous

Financial: expensive….

SCSH recent study shows costs of tenancy failure to be rising.

Based on a couple of different scenarios for under 25s:

6 months in temp = £12k not including support

12 months in temp = £20k not including support

Costs of support can add around 3k to each total. (See “briefings” on SCSH website for full report)

Outlook?

Although current trend is downward

•Existing & projected high youth unemployment•Impact of welfare reforms•Continuing gloomy economic forecasts

-All suggest likely increase in youth homelessness over the next few years.

Women likely to be particularly hard hit.

Solutions?

Prevention: Earlier precautionary prevention(but without impacting crisis intervention)Co-ordination:Closer working & increased joint working(but without undermining tendering processes)Lobbying: Political pressure, evidence based research, making sure homeless voices are heard