Scottish election 2026: Here's where the parties stand on tackling homelessness

There are many reasons why people become homeless (Picture: Phil Wilkinson) | Cyrenians

This Monday marked the deadline for registering to vote in the Scottish Parliament election, now only two weeks away. As problems overseas escalate and a barrage of information about genocide, fascist government takeovers and global scandal floods our social media feeds, I know it can be hard to concentrate on what’s happening on our own front door. But it’s vitally important that we do.

Scotland is a small, relatively prosperous country. We have the capacity to fix our problems, and right now one of the biggest is housing and homelessness.

Most Scottish residents will have experienced housing insecurity of some kind over the last five years. Between April and September 2025, 17,291 households were assessed as homeless. If we were to ask every one what would stop them being homeless, the answer would be simple – a home.

But if we were to ask them how they became homeless, the answer would be much more complex. We’re facing a big problem which will not be fixed with one simple solution.

READ MORE: Why 5,000 young people become homeless in Scotland every year

Policies that can make a difference

Combing through each party manifesto, I’m pleased to see evidence that our country is starting to understand homelessness as a problem more nuanced than its etymology would suggest.

We know young people, especially those with traumatic childhoods, face specific challenges which make them more vulnerable to homelessness in adulthood. The Liberal Democrats have responded to this with a ‘Young Homeless Guarantee’, recognising the additional challenges for young people experiencing homelessness.

Similarly, I was pleased to see the SNP adopt Cyrenians’ own manifesto ask: a new Homelessness Prevention Fund, running over ten years. Targeted, long-term funding which aims to understand how best to help the most vulnerable – like care leavers, prison leavers and those being discharged from hospital – is fundamental to ending homelessness at its most acute.

READ MORE: Why building houses is not the only solution to Scotland's homelessness problem

This funding would also support the newly passed ‘ask and act’ legislation, which widens the obligation to prevent homelessness to various public bodies like schools, prisons and the police and which the Scottish Conservatives have vowed to implement as part of their “preventative approach”.

This legislation – and prospective funding – is ambitious, requiring collaboration between public bodies, local authorities, central government, and the housing and third sectors. Which is why Scottish Labour’s proposal to create an Ending Homelessness Unit, which could serve to oversee this ambitious project, strikes me as wise.

READ MORE: Holyrood Election 2026: All the party manifestos and key pledges at a glance

A failure of the state

Underpinning this all is the need for more social housing. Reform – and every other political party – responded positively to Shelter Scotland’s call for 75,000 more social homes, with each party coming up with different roadmap to get us to that target.

For the minority for whom social housing may not be the right answer, we need quality, targeted temporary accomodation fit for the needs of people who use it, which is currently sorely lacking. To fix this problem, the Scottish Greens have promised to prioritise funding more and better temporary accommodation.

Whichever party you vote for, I urge you to look at the promises of each carefully. Homelessness is fundamentally a failure of the state, not the individual.

For that reason, no matter who’s elected, we as Scottish citizens must continue to speak up for our, and our neighbours’, right to a secure and safe home and hold our next government to account.

Ewan Aitken is chief executive of homelessness charity Cyrenians