Red emergency sos light

Is your housing unaffordable, unsuitable, inaccessible?.

You're not alone.

1.5 million of us are affected by the housing emergency in Scotland and we've had enough.

Enough of 'crappy' housing. Enough of horror stories from family and friends. Enough of struggling to pay sky-high rents and spending years waiting for a social home.

Politicians want us to accept it. But how can we accept 45 kids becoming homeless every day?

If this isn't an emergency - what is?

This is a #HousingSOS. It's time our government recognises the broken and biased housing system and its effect on us. Scotland must declare a housing emergency so this situation can end. We must make our voices heard. Share your housing horror story and then join our movement for change. ➡️

Shelter Scotland Roof

We've had enough.

Share your housing horror story and join our movement for change.

See the map of stories 🗺️

These are your stories

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My partner and I are both mature students in our final year at Glasgow University. We are living in a private rental in Govanhill. Our rent is £425pcm and we both work part time to support ourselves.…

💔Dan

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The landlord is neglecting to get the outdated boiler replaced despite having had three abatement orders served. I have faced being put into temporary housing because of this. After 24 years of him …

😠Catherine

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My council house is damp I've had to throw our furniture can't use my bedroom due to damp. Sleep in livingroom not good when you have Crohns and spinal problems

😡Susan

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I’m a single mother of two autistic kids. My landlord did not have an EICR for the electricity for years so my plugs kept melting and no main attached smoke detectors. (Which were fitted after my com…

🙂Gayle

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I moved from Berwick upon tweed to Edinburgh in 2016 when I had to leave abusive marriage. I went on the council house waiting list then. I am still waiting. I need 3 bedrooms. I currently pay 1030 …

😢B

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Iv been stuck in 1 room for 3 months bid every week after split with partner I'm desperate bid every week but getting nowhere iv never had my own home and supposed to be priority I'm depressed was f…

😢D

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Renfrewshire council have started upgrades ie solar panel new windows and doors, these projects have been outsourced to cheap and inadequate unprofessional companies who's work and work ethics are di…

🙂Allan

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We owned our own house but had to sell it due to bullying and harassment and we didn't get any help then, stayed with a member of family until we had a fall out, we were too scared to go back to our…

😡Heather

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I am a private tenant, 68, working pensioner living with husband and a disabled adult child. I pay half my income on rent. My house has wet floors under the floor covers, unusable kitchen due to the…

😡Kate

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Been in private rented accommodation for 8 years, landlord has increased rent again. Its unaffordable. Been on council waiting list for an offer of a council home for 9 years!! Still waiting. I ca…

😠Alison

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Fleeing domestic violence and ongoing post separation abuse to myself and our children and being left homeless after being forced to leave army accommodation yet my abuser was housed immediately and …

💔Francesca

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My family and I have been homeless twice in the past 12 years. I am unable to work due to disability and my partner is my carer. I didn't realise how difficult it was to find a landlord that will acc…

🙂SuperCrazyMum7

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Cant even get a viewing! All viewing slots on rentals seem to be gone within a few hours. Must be hundreds of us in Edinburgh all going for the same places :(

💔Simon

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In 2009 I was made homeless when my landlord decided to put up his rent by 10%. We could no longer afford it he gave notice to quit. The housing 'officers' at homeless, chucked us in a 2 bed flat. We…

😢Benjamin

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My rent is 1100. Rent only. Nothing else is included in that. This hangs over my head every month like a demon. I don't know what to do. I can't afford rent plus Xmas next month. How this is justifie…

🙂Beckie

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A single parent of 1 teen after leaving a domestic violent relationship , 10 years ago. Private landlord wanted to sell up all his properties as many tenants in lockdowns could not afford to pay th…

😡Ally

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As a single mother of 5, I struggled to find a home that would meet my family needs that I could afford. When I found one, it was next a pub in an area well known for anti -social behaviour.  We ofte…

😢TMM

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We lived in a flat where the mice problem was so bad they were eating the food in the cupboards. We’d see them running about the floor even in the day. The letting agent said there was nothing they c…

🐁Sarah

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I lived in a top-floor student flat. One of the walls in the bedroom was soaking wet due to a leak in the roof and never got fixed. The wall was so damp it was wet to the touch and it couldn’t be wal…

🏚Sam

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Active leak in our tenement that took almost three years to stop. Landlord next door wouldn't get it fixed. Had to get council involved to threaten legal action on landlord. Now finally no active lea…

😢Alison

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Mortgage has doubled and bank wont let me remortgage, have reduced working hours due to childcare being too expensive so not got enough earnings to qualify to remortgage affordability with other bank…

😠Anonymous

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My housing officer told me it’s a 100 year wait for the size house I need.

🚨CK

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Everything went fine until the pandemic hit. After that my landlord decided that the flat was worth a lot more. My rent went up and I couldn't afford to eat. That was that, I was out.

😡Connie

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I live in a 2 bed, 1st floor flat. My 3 year old who is autistic, is really tall for his age and has good fine motor skills. However he lacks safety awareness. He can climb up to windows and open the…

😢Lisa

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The damp in our kitchen was so bad that a kitchen cupboard fell off the wall and our ceiling caved in. The landlord did nothing to fix it, so we attempted to cover the hole in the ceiling with tarpau…

😂Lara

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I've a great job that I love. I've also got zero chance of being able to afford to buy a home. Housing is broken!! Totally depressing :(

😢Jen

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I have a good job and can afford a mortgage - I just cant afford the deposit, so I have to rent. Even if I could get the deposit together - house prices seem to be going through the roof in my area!

💔Lauren

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Rents too high, budget too low :(

👀John

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I need an accessible home for a health condition and while my landlord makes all the right noises, she is not interested in making those changes to her property - and why should she really? Zero hom…

😢Charlie

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I work at Ninewells and the price of renting has got ridiculous. Prices seem to have gone through the roof - so here I am I my 30s in a bloody flatshare like I was when I was a student. There is no…

🏠LL

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I had an absolute nightmare finding somewhere to live last summer, I was homeless for the first month of university in September.

😠Eli

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Lived in my rented property for years. Landlord was OK, but started to tell us that he needed to put the rent up as his costs were going up. We couldn’t afford what he wanted but he wanted us to st…

🚨Mandi

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I'm a carer - I need a more affordable option for us than renting as I cant work as much as before. We get help with our rent but its no life. GCC tells me there is none.

🚨Kerry

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If you want to view a decent flat in Glasgow, you better be prepared to go immediately - and be viewing with at least 5 other desperate renters like you. Ive heard of people being asked how many mon…

🚨Sarah

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The landlord tried to deduct from our deposit for a fingerprint on the toilet roll holder!

🚨Jess

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I was made homeless through an illegal eviction and the council found me intentionally homeless as I’d left the property without paperwork being served by the landlord. The locks had been changed by …

😡Andy

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Been in my temp accommodation so long now, that my kids have grown up here, their lives are here - their friends, school, everything. But this isnt ours, we cant settle - and when we do finally find…

😞Claire

Now tell us your story