ROUGH sleeping is on the rise in Glasgow, according to new figures from housing charity Shelter.
A report by the campaign group showed more people have been sleeping rough before they make a homeless application to the council.
Homelessness in the city centre has become more visible with people spending the night in sleeping bags in empty shop doorways and even tents being used as shelter.
The report found the number of people who said they had slept rough the night before going to report as homeless last year was 460, an increase of 15 per cent on the year before.
READ MORE: Glasgow leads the UK in tackling rough sleeping
The number who has slept rough in the three months before making an application increased by 25 per cent to 530. Shelter said it was struggling to keep up with demand for help.
Gillian Reid, Shelter Scotland’s National Services Manager, says: “Demand for our services in the Glasgow area is very high and our teams are stretched to the limit in providing advice to help people find and keep a home.
“An acute shortage of truly affordable homes, harsh welfare reforms, stagnant wages and the high cost of keeping a roof over their head are the main reasons driving people to ask for help.”
The report said that 3,080 people from Glasgow approached shelter for help in the last year.
Almost a quarter, 755, were currently homelessness or facing homelessness that night and 194 were at risk of being made homeless within 28 days.
READ MORE: Glasgow leads the UK in tackling rough sleeping
More than a quarter, 382, at risk of homelessness were households that contained children.
Glasgow City Council said it made 7100 offers of temporary accommodation to people who were homeless and is transforming the approach to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness.
A spokeswoman said: “Glasgow is committed to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping by adopting innovative and ground-breaking approaches such as the formation of the UK’s first Alliance to End Homelessness announced yesterday.
“The city’s homelessness services are also transitioning to a Housing First approach with the first, formerly long term homeless people currently settling into new tenancies.
“This new approach will relieve pressure on emergency accommodation by moving people into their own tenancies faster.”
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