Guest blog: Not safe, not suitable – peer-led research on temporary housing in North Lanarkshire

Chloe MacDonald & Jane McKay,
Peer Researchers,
North Lanarkshire

Temporary accommodation should be safe, suitable and genuinely temporary for everyone, including families with young children. Yet across Scotland, many households are still being housed in unsuitable places such as hotels and B&Bs, and too many families are spending far longer in temporary accommodation than they should. 

As peer researchers, we know first-hand what it is like to raise young children in temporary accommodation. We have experience of living in ‘scatterflats’ and other types of temporary housing, and we understand the impact this can have on family health and wellbeing. We also know that things can be done differently, and that change is urgently needed. 

Over the past year, we have worked with the Poverty Alliance and One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) as part of a wider health-focused project led by the Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (SHERU) at the University of Strathclyde. Through this work, we have reflected on our own experiences and spoken with other families in North Lanarkshire about their journeys through temporary accommodation. 

We met with parents who were living in or had recently lived in temporary accommodation with young children. Through a workshop and interviews, we explored their experiences of accessing temporary housing, engaging with housing officers and services, and the impact that living in temporary accommodation had had on their family’s lives, health, and wellbeing. 

Listening to these experiences was not always easy. Parents described difficult circumstances, uncertainty, and challenges affecting them and their children while living in often unsafe and unsuitable temporary housing.  

As we have been writing our report, we have also learned that a record 19,004 households, including 10,715 children, are living in temporary accommodation in Scotland. We hope that our research helps to ensure that the voices of families are heard and that the findings and recommendations contribute to the urgent change that is needed for families and others living in temporary accommodation. 

Without real, meaningful change, the harms associated with temporary accommodation – including financial pressures and challenges and impacts on physical and mental health – will continue to affect thousands of families across Scotland. 

Download Read the report here