East Renfrewshire Council is set to declare a housing emergency tomorrow (Wednesday), as homelessness rises and the cost of temporary accommodation soars.

Almost 200 households were recently staying in temporary accommodation, including hotels and B&Bs — with the spend on hotels reaching £1.3m last year.

It comes after East Renfrewshire saw a 53% increase in homeless applications between 2019 (315) and 2023 (481), compared to a 10% increase nationally.

The council historically received between 300 and 350 presentations each year but these increased during the covid pandemic and have “not returned to normal levels”, it has been reported.

Scotland’s housing regulator has said East Renfrewshire is one of eight councils across the country at risk of systemic failure over the delivery of homelessness services.

That assessment has been driven by the use of “unsuitable” hotels and B&Bs to house homeless people.

Councillors are recommended to approve the declaration of a housing emergency — and action to address some of the issues faced — at a meeting tomorrow. The plan could include using £1 million to buy houses to increase the supply of temporary accommodation.

Council leader Owen O’Donnell, Labour, said the declaration, if agreed, wouldn’t be “just for a political message”. He said officials have spent time developing “a strong action plan”.

He suggested “buying back ex-council properties” would “allow us to provide more temporary accommodation and at the same time reduce the cost of hotels”.

The council leader also said a Scottish Government cut to its affordable housing budget should be reversed, as it is “having a real impact on our ability to deliver”.

Planned action includes checking whether council-owned land and buildings could be used for temporary accommodation and potentially investing in “modular unit type accommodation”.

The early purchase of 105 new homes at Maidenhill in 2024/25 is also being progressed while an empty homes officer has been recruited to target 124 long-term vacant properties in East Renfrewshire.

East Renfrewshire would become the 12th council to declare a housing emergency while the Scottish Government announced a national emergency in May.

Councils have a legal duty to provide homeless people with temporary accommodation and a report by officials stated there is currently “no alternative” to using hotels to meet that requirement.

The use of hotels for temporary accommodation cost £1.3m in 2023/24 while an overspend of £1.5m, against a budget of £545,000, is forecast for 2024/25.

The council only recovers around 12% of the cost for hotel use, compared to around 80% — through housing benefit and rent — for council-owned accommodation.

There are “unique circumstances” behind the crisis in East Renfrewshire, Cllr O’Donnell said. The area has high owner occupation levels and the smallest percentage of social housing in mainland Scotland.

High costs to buy or rent privately in East Renfrewshire mean “accessing housing in the private sector is out of reach for many local residents”, council officials added.

Cllr O’Donnell said there were long-term issues for the council to address, including people in their 20s and 30s being forced to leave the area as they can’t afford to buy.

The turnover in council housing has also reduced over the past five years, from around 260 to 190 homes per year.

According to the report, East Renfrewshire Council now receives up to 490 homeless applications each year and has “accepted a duty to house approximately 70% of them (343 households)”.

In 2023/24, there were only 116 council properties available to meet this need. Almost 200 households were in temporary accommodation when the council report was compiled.

It stated: “The council cannot house all of those to whom we have a duty from turnover of our own or partner housing association’s stock.

“On current trends, new build delivery will reduce the rate at which these pressures on homelessness would otherwise increase, but it will not substantially clear the backlog of cases.”

There have been 372 new affordable homes built since April 2019.

Council officials reported “the 24% Scottish Government grant reduction to the affordable housing supply programme for 2024/25” will “impact on the delivery of all new affordable housing”.

They also stated clearing “the backlog of presenting cases will require a substantial investment in grant funding”.

Cllr O’Donnell said he has written to the First Minister for clarity over whether housing funding included in the programme for government is “new money or existing commitments”.