Glasgow City Council consider ‘prefabricated buildings’ to address nearly 1,500 expected fresh homelessness applications

The council is considering using prefabricated buildings to house a sudden rise in the number of people granted asylum in the city.

It is expected Glasgow may have to handle an extra 1,386 homelessness applications from people granted asylum before the end of 2023. It comes after the UK Government decided to speed up the application process for asylum seekers to reduce the backlog of claims.

It is estimated temporary accommodation pending an offer of settled housing would be required by 1,026 households as people move out of Home Office funded accommodation . It could potentially cost the city’s health and social care partnership £53.4 million this financial year. There are fears the rise in people needing housing could lead to more rough sleeping.

Council leader Susan Aitken, SNP, said there is no suggestion from the UK Government that they “care” about the “significant impact. ”

Speaking at the council’s recent full council meeting, Councillor Aitken said: “There is significant concern expressed across the UK about the impact this is going to have. The Local Government Association have made a formal request for funding from the UK Government and noted the irony that local authorities might be forced to use the hotels to house people that the UK Government are coming out of.

“The Home Office have put in place an implementation board in Glasgow to work through cases but there is no funding attached to this. Officers have also been looking at feasibility around modular and other types of emergency accommodation.”

Councillor Aitken was responding to questions from Scottish Greens councillor Martha Wardrop about the situation regarding the streamlined asylum application process. Councillor Wardrop also asked about the impact the situation would have on the human rights of asylum seekers and the wider Glasgow population experiencing homelessness.

Councillor Aitken said a recent emergency committee meeting agreed the council should “explore potential legal avenues for intervening in the Home Office plans. ”

Explaining other actions being taken, councillor Aitken said she wrote to the secretary of state for Scotland explaining the “significant impact” this will have for the city.She also said the council’s chief officer “continues to engage at a UK level including recent meetings with the home office and the Local Government Association.”