First minister John Swinney: 'We must ensure that every child in Scotland has a good place to live'

Ensuring that all families have a safe, settled place to call home is at the very core of my ambition as First Minister to ensure that every child has a good start in life – no matter their background.

Experiencing homelessness as a child can have a negative impact on development and wellbeing, creating a disadvantage from the very start that can continue well into later life. We must do all we can to tackle that injustice. 

World Homeless Day brings into sharp focus the suffering that homelessness brings, underscoring the need for all of us to go further to support those experiencing it and ensure that everyone has access to good-quality housing.

While Scotland has led the UK on taking action to end homelessness and in providing strong rights for tenants, my government’s Housing Bill – now passed by the Scottish parliament – represents a landmark moment in tackling homelessness and the housing crisis.

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Preventing homelessness from happening in the first place is one of the most effective steps we can take to stop people reaching the point of crisis, and the Housing Bill will allow us to take decisive action to create a gold-standard homelessness prevention system.

That includes introducing ‘ask and act’ duties, meaning social landlords and relevant bodies like health boards and prisons will have to ask about a person’s housing situation as early as possible and help them to access support.

We also know there is simply not enough housing supply to meet demand in Scotland, and so we are working to make more permanent homes available.

We have helped deliver more than 140,000 affordable homes in Scotland since 2007, with over 100,000 available for social rent. This means that access to an affordable home in Scotland is proportionality 74% higher than in England and 73% higher than in Wales.

Furthermore, our Housing Emergency Action Plan commits to investing up to £4.9 billion over the next four years in affordable housebuilding. This will support the delivery of around 36,000 affordable homes by 2029-30 and provide a home for up to 24,000 children.

This year’s World Homeless Day comes as Scotland marks its annual Challenge Poverty Week, which shines a light on the wider injustice of poverty in Scotland and how we can all work together to improve lives.

Eradicating child poverty is at the heart of my government’s policy agenda. An important part of this is investing in joined-up family support so that people can get the help they need, where and when they need it. That includes expanding the support available in local communities and making sure services can be accessed easily.

This is backed by our £6.9bn investment in social security support and our game-changing Scottish Child Payment – worth £27.15 per week for each eligible child under 16 years old.

Policies like these have helped the proportion of Scottish children living in relative poverty to reach its lowest level in nearly a decade, but we know there’s still more work to do. Our commitment to mitigating the UK Government’s two-child limit in Universal Credit from March 2026 will also keep even more money in families’ pockets.

By ensuring all children in Scotland have somewhere to call home and helping families to access the support and social security payments they need, we will further reduce the number of children born into poverty and build a brighter future for the next generation.

John Swinney is the leader of the SNP and the first minister of Scotland..

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