Councils handing hotels hundreds of millions to fix SNP housing crisis

Local authorities are being forced to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on hotels for homeless people according to figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with Glasgow spending more than £114m in just three years.

The party's lead candidate for Glasgow, Daniel Khan-O’Malley, said that the eye-watering bill was a direct result of the SNP failing to build homes and encourage housebuilding. 

According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by the party:

• Councils forked out £227,749,483 between 2023-2025 with eight councils spending over £1 million. 
• A total of 118,194 people were housed in temporary hotel accommodation over the three-year period. 
• Glasgow City taxpayers were landed the largest bill by the SNP, with the council spending £114,817,205, more than half the Scottish total.
• Eight councils were unable to provide figures, indicating that the true total may be significantly higher.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have committed to reverse the SNP’s stagnation by creating an attractive environment for housebuilding investment, replacing the failing national housing strategy, and delivering the skills the construction sector needs. 

The party's manifesto outlines plans for:

• Returning housebuilding to a level that will get an average of 25,000 homes built each year, supporting 87,000 high quality jobs. 
• Introducing a Help to Renovate loan scheme to bring neglected properties back into use.
• Reforming planning, making it less arduous and delivering badly needed infrastructure and economic growth with more planning officers and investment in digital tools that help speed up decision-making.

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Daniel Khan-O’Malley said:

“Scotland is suffering from a housing crisis and thousands of children are stuck in temporary accommodation. This is all down to the SNP’s inability to build more homes and encourage housebuilding. 

“Councils should not have to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on hotel accommodation to address homelessness that has its root cause in a lack of suitable and affordable homes.

“The SNP and Greens together cut £200 million from the affordable homes budget during a housing emergency. Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats both voted against that cut and put the money back in the budget the following year.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats will get Scotland building and take a pragmatic, compassionate, and comprehensive approach to tackling the housing crisis and homelessness.

"For the first time in a long time, voters across Scotland can elect a Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP on their second regional peach ballot paper and choose change with fairness at its heart."