Projects aimed at preventing homelessness across Scotland will continue until the end of the current financial year after the Scottish Government announced an additional £945,000 in funding.
The funding will support the continuation of Scotland’s Homelessness Prevention Pilots, which are trialling innovative approaches to early intervention and prevention. The pilots are helping organisations prepare for the introduction of proposed ‘ask and act’ duties contained within the Housing (Scotland) Bill, requiring public bodies to identify housing issues earlier and take preventative action before homelessness occurs.
The latest funding package comes on top of the £4 million investment announced in August 2025, ensuring pilot programmes can continue operating while final evaluations are completed and assessed by ministers.
As part of the announcement, Scottish Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville visited an ‘ask and act’ pilot project in Edinburgh's Wester Hailes. The project is being delivered in partnership with homelessness charity Crisis, which has also published a new report examining what effective homelessness prevention looks like and outlining practical steps to achieve it.
Speaking about the additional funding, Somerville said:
"Preventing homelessness before it happens is one of the most important steps we can take to improve people's lives.
"The work being carried out through these pilots is helping us understand how services can work together to identify risk earlier, intervene sooner and provide the support people need to stay in their homes and that is why I am pleased to confirm funding to extend them until March.
"This extension will ensure that valuable learning continues, that specialist expertise is retained, and that partners are supported as we prepare for the implementation of Scotland's new homelessness prevention duties.
“Our aim is clear: to shift from managing homelessness crises to preventing them in the first place. We are investing more than £213 million this year - partly through the local government settlement - on homelessness measures aimed at delivering better outcomes for individuals, families and communities across Scotland.
“We have a shared ambition with Crisis to end homelessness, it is helpful to see the Changing Course report it has published today, which estimates the costs and the benefits of our new homelessness prevention duties.”
The extension is designed to preserve frontline prevention expertise and maintain momentum as Scotland prepares to embed stronger homelessness prevention duties into legislation. For local authorities, housing providers and public sector organisations, the pilots are expected to provide valuable evidence on how earlier intervention can reduce homelessness pressures, improve outcomes for vulnerable residents and deliver long-term savings across public services.
The announcement also reinforces the Scottish Government's broader commitment to tackling homelessness, with more than £213 million earmarked this year for homelessness support and prevention initiatives across the country.
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