More than £5million in charges for temporary accommodation for homeless people is owed to Glasgow City Council.

While most of the rent charged for the accommodation is met by housing benefit, not everyone will qualify for or claim the benefit.

In a response to a Freedom of Information request from Legal Services Agency, it was revealed 5735 people in Glasgow were charged for temporary accommodation in 2000 and 510 made direct payments to the council.

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The council received £21,358,553 in income and at 31 December 2020 was owed a total of £5,163,685 in arrears.

Under a government Code of Guidance, councils are expected to carry out a household assessment to consider whether accommodation would be affordable for a household and the ability to pay charges in the longer term.

Glasgow City Council said it has “regard for “ the guidance when setting charges but that the cost to the council in securing the accommodation has to be the main principle in any calculations.

The council leases properties from housing associations and landlords across the city to meet its obligation to provide temporary accommodation to homeless people.

Campaigners want the debt written off by the government so homelessness services are not affected.

Sean Clerkin, housing campaigner of Scottish Tenants Organisation, said: “Homeless households the most financially vulnerable people in society.

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“The Scottish Government must step in and write off the debt that has been run up in charging homeless people in Glasgow and give much more resources to get homeless households into permanent homes.”

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: “Councils are permitted to make a reasonable charge for the provision of temporary homeless accommodation. When setting the rental charge for homeless accommodation the Council has regard to the Homelessness Code of Guidance 2019. However, the guiding principle adopted by the Council in setting the charge per unit is to set a charge which reflects the cost to the Council in providing interim homeless accommodation. “

It said housing benefit may be available and support with this and other benefit claims is be available from Health and Social Care Partnership staff.