Rough sleeping in Scotland has been reduced to a "handful" of people but there will be a huge challenge to find accommodation for them once Covid-19 lockdown measures end, MSPs have been told.
The Scottish Parliament's Local Government Committee heard evidence from three charities about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on homelessness.
Margaret-Ann Brunjes, director of the Homelessness Network Scotland, said remarkable progress had been made on rough sleeping.
“All different parts came together to resolve the situation almost overnight, to the point where there’s now less than a handful of people sleeping rough in each of the cities. So that in itself has forced a rethink of what’s possible.”
"But it also means that where we are right now is on a bit of a knife edge, because what we’ve not done is solve the problem, we’ve contained it.”
At the start of the lockdown, hotels and other buildings were used to house hundreds of rough sleepers in Scottish cities.
Some of these measures are due to end in July, leading to concerns some people will return to the streets later in the year.
Alasdair Bennett, of the Bethany Christian Trust, said the charity’s Edinburgh care shelter usually has 26 people a week but that has increased to around 40.
Scottish Green MSP Andy Wightman asked: “How are we going to deal with this when the crisis is technically over?
“In the sense that these people are in a safe place but in ordinary circumstances local authorities would not have a duty to care for all of them – but having done so, can hardly kick them out on the streets again.”
Mike Wright, service manager at the Cyrenians charity, replied: “It poses a huge challenge.
Want to be first to know what's going on in Edinburgh? Join our Facebook group All About Edinburgh to stay in the loop and share your stories.
“It comes down to how we as a society want to respond to that level of destitution.
“I think we have some quite difficult choices to make because I don’t think there is much of an appetite to see any human return to a life on the streets.”
It comes as the Scottish Greens warn of a spike in possible evictions once the housing tribunals restart.
The First-Tier Tribunal for Scotland is expected to resume the discussion of cases in July, when the Housing and Property Chamber is planning on restarting eviction hearings for private rented sector tenants online.
Commenting, Andy Wightman said: “It’s clear that when hearings resume they are likely to face a backlog of cases of people being evicted from their homes. This could lead to a spike in the number of people being made homeless.
“Everybody should have access to a safe, secure home during this crisis. A spike in evictions, leading to an increase in homeless households, helps nobody – and it certainly does not protect the health of the Scottish public.
