‘Scary’ rise in homelessness concerns councillor

Housing officers have been battling to cope with a recent sharp rise in homelessness in Orkney.

During 2025/26, there was a 42 per cent jump in the number of individuals and families without a roof to call their own.

Moves towards finding a permanent fix to the problem rely on the roll-out of a wave of new housing being proposed in the county.

Concern about the recent spike in homelessness presentations to Orkney Islands Council was voiced at Wednesday’s education, communities and housing committee.

Senior housing official Lesley Mulraine said the number jumped from 113 in 2024/25 to 161 last year.

This came on the heels of a 22 per cut the previous year, with the latest total the highest for at least 15 years.

She said: “It’s difficult to determine exactly why this is. Early indications would suggest that presentations remain high.”

She said that between April 1 and June 1, there had been 29 presentations, compared to 18 for the same period last year.

Mrs Mulraine said there are more households in temporary accommodation in Orkney than before the pandemic.

This, she said, has been the experience of councils throughout Scotland.

Currently, 97 Orkney households are in temporary accommodation, which include B&Bs, hotels and self-catering units and nine staying with family or friends.

They were seeking permanent lets, with the majority wanting to be housed in Kirkwall.

The 2025/26 total featured single people aged between 25 and 64 (81); under-25s (35); and single parents (22).

About half of council houses which fall vacant are offered for let to homeless applicants.

Mrs Mulraine said that two years ago OIC had for the first time been forced to seek emergency temporary housing outwith Orkney.

She said: “This is something that, unfortunately, we’ve had to continue over the past year simply due to the number of households requiring temporary accommodation and the difficulty in sourcing bed and breakfast, hotel or self-catering accommodation, particularly over the summer months.”  

Replying to Councillor John Ross Scott, she said, five households were temporarily housed off the island over the course of the year.

Mrs Mulraine said: “We try really, really hard to keep people in Orkney but there are times that we have no other option.”  

She said priority is given to people who have a job in the county.

Councillor Scott dubbed the report before the committee as “scary”.

“The increase really shows that that at a time when we’re in a housing crisis, homeless numbers don’t help the situation at all.

“You can see the underbelly of Orkney society in what we’ve got in front of us.”

Asked if there schemes elsewhere that OIC could adopt to address the issue, Mrs Mulraine said every authority is struggling with homelessness.

“The difficulty is that every area has a different issue,” she said.

“Our issue is the supply of housing, which is squeezed right across the market. It’s incredibly squeezed, as we know.”

“We’re doing everything we possibly can but there’s no immediate solution that will resolve this.”

Mrs Mulraine said there is however hope with OIC’s masterplan for a major house-building programme over the coming decade.

This includes a tie-up with the Places for People Scotland housing association, which is proposed to provide 500 new homes.

“It will take time to get that supply up then, hopefully we’ll see things being resolved.”

Mrs Mulraine said council officials pro-actively check with rough sleepers and offer them an assessment with a view to finding them accommodation.

“Not all of them want to do that,” she said. “That is their choice.”

OIC’s spend on homelessness during 2025/26 was £860,762.