Homeless to be moved out of illegal shared houses

The most recent housing committee report outlining required actions to end the use of HMOs stated “the use of this accommodation was always subject to an exit plan”.

The council plans to stop paying the unlicensed providers of HMO properties in early December.

To achieve this, the council has suspended applications for social housing.

EdIndex, the Edinburgh housing portal used by homeless individuals to bid for council houses, allows people to get on a waiting list for longer-term solutions.

Empty homes are usually advertised online but the site says this has been temporarily paused due to “unprecedented pressures”.

Non-essential repairs have also been paused until January to prioritise work to get more void homes back into use.

Edinburgh City Council’s housing convener 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.

“The stark choice facing us is that we either house people in unlicensed HMOs or people will have to sleep on the streets which no one wants.

“We’re in a critical position that means we need to escalate our efforts to address this.”

The council reiterated that it “urgently need to move people out of these properties and find alternative temporary accommodation”, stating its plans to use “existing council stock” and engage with housing providers to ensure licences meet regulation standards.

Ms Meagher said: “The council leader and I have spoken with senior ministers and the Scottish government recognises that we need to work together on this to make sure everyone facing homelessness in Edinburgh and beyond is supported.”