Stop Blaming Refugees for Glasgow’s Housing Emergency

Refugees are being blamed for Glasgow’s housing crisis. This racialised framing distorts reality and deflects anger from decades of political failure.

In December 2024, 4,036 households were in temporary accommodation. Of these, 2,179 were refugees with leave to remain. Hundreds of Scots and Ukrainians were too. Yet refugees of colour were blamed in media coverage (see below) —fuelling racism and scapegoating those already failed by the system.

This is not a crisis caused by refugees or anyone who needs housing. It’s the result of austerity, housing neglect, and government inaction. Refugees contribute to Scotland through work, taxes, and skills—despite being locked out of opportunity.

The UK Government funnels billions to outsourcing giants like Mears Group, which operates in Scotland. These firms profit from placing people in asylum hotels and substandard housing, without building homes, infrastructure, or jobs—turning public money into private profit as the crisis worsens. Meanwhile, those placed in hotels survive on as little as £8 a week and are banned from working.

Public frustration should be aimed at policy failure, not the poorest. Glasgow has been a major refugee dispersal city for 25 years. If government had invested in housing instead of outsourcing, it could have built lasting homes, supported jobs, and gained tax revenue from people ready to work. Instead we have less housing and more billionaires.

Social housing benefits everyone and builds stronger communities.

We can keep fuelling resentment through scapegoating vulnerable people —or demand that public funds be used to build homes. Starting in Glasgow.

Permanent housing would ease pressure on councils, cut costs, and bring people together—instead of turning people against each other.