FOI Request - Temporary Accommodation for Homeless Applicants

Request 101003768582

Use of temporary accommodation for homeless applicants, with specific reference to charging practices, affordability assessments, and associated arrears from 2019 to the 2024 (or most recent figures).

Please provide the following:

1.  Does the Council use the power under s35(2) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 to charge homeless people for temporary accommodation?

2.  Could you please tell me the different types of temporary accommodation premises, e.g. hotel, b&b or hostel?

3.  Does the Council hold any policies or internal guidance documents relating to charges for temporary accommodation, including on what constitutes a ˜reasonable" charge in relation to s35(2) and para 8.84 of the Scottish Government's Code of Guidance on homelessness? If so, what is the content of the policies or guidance?

4.  If the Council has charged homeless people for temporary accommodation, please provide information on the following for each calendar year since 2019 till the most recent calendar year with data

• How many people were charged.
• The average cost per week for temporary accommodation?
• The total income received by the Council from any charges.
• How many people paid such charges directly to the Council (e.g. by bank transfer, cash, etc.), as opposed to through Housing Benefit, Universal Credit, or other social security mechanisms.

5.  What, if any, is the total outstanding debt owed to the Council for temporary accommodation charges currently owed?

6.  As part of this request I would like the information to be broken down into the following:

• The number of people placed into temporary accommodation after making a homeless application, broken down into year-by-year?
• The average length of stay in temporary accommodation after making a homeless application?
• The five longest periods of stay in temporary accommodation after making a homeless application

Response 09-05-2025

1. Yes

2. The council uses hostels, dispersed houses in the community and only when necessary, hotels or B&Bs as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

3. Yes - the Temporary Accommodation Charging Policy is published and available on the Moray Council website. This information is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file150866.pdf

4. 

5. As at 31/3/2025 the figure is £232,944.84

6.