No one should die without a safe place to call home
Following the announcement of Scotland’s figures relating to deaths of people experiencing homelessness, Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman responded calling for better preventative measures from the outset, highlighting a rigged housing market and lack of person-centred support as the root cause.
Statistics released today show there were an estimated 231 deaths of people experiencing homelessness registered in Scotland in 2024.
Maggie said:
“No one should die without or because they don’t have a safe place to call home. One death is one too many. These figures should shame us all.
“Behind every statistic is a person who was failed by systems that should have been there to support them much earlier, and to prevent homelessness in the first place.
“Preventing homelessness deaths requires a public health approach, and properly funded, integrated public services including mental health and addiction support, person-centred social care and a trauma-informed justice system.
“It also requires full enforcement of homelessness rights, like Ask and Act duties, which require public bodies to proactively identify people at risk of homelessness and take early, preventative action.
“I was proud to win the Housing First approach now in Scotland’s Housing Act 2025. With this approach, people - especially those with complex needs - should have access to stable, permanent housing, so that they don’t cycle through temporary accommodation
“Homelessness is not inevitable. We must build homes for people, not profit. We can fund the services that prevent crises, not cause them. And we can reform and fund public bodies so that people get help at the first warning sign, not when it is already too late."
Maggie added:
“Our housing market is rigged in favour of those who already have wealth while thousands of homes sit empty or are treated as investment assets.
“Investing in social housing and support services is necessary if we are serious about building a system that supports people out of homelessness.
“We need to reach a point where we have no homelessness deaths in Scotland, and the Greens are committed to being that voice.”