Why we need temporary accommodation
A housing emergency was declared in Edinburgh in November 2023 due to significant pressures on the city’s housing market, including homelessness rates and housing costs. Although we’ve already made substantial progress on our housing emergency plan, we’re currently in a critical situation that requires us to escalate our efforts to tackle homelessness.
We agreed in our budget in February 2025 to invest towards building and buying homes at scale to address the housing emergency and purchasing a block of flats on Halmyre Street for temporary accommodation is part of that package of measures.
The flats were originally built as student accommodation and planning permission is needed to change their use to temporary accommodation. If permission is granted, we will take ownership of the building shortly after with a view to opening from late summer/early autumn.