Key Points
- Glasgow City Council is projected to spend more than £84 million on bed and breakfast (B&B) and hotel accommodation for homeless people during the 2026/27 financial year, marking a 25 per cent increase on the previous year.
- Freedom of Information (FOI) figures revealed that the local authority spent £35 million on B&B accommodation over a five-month period between April and September 2026.
- During the preceding year, Glasgow City Council spent almost £70 million—specifically £67,815,500—on hotels and B&Bs for homeless residents.
- Campaigners, tenants’ groups, and local residents have raised concerns regarding alleged “dosshouse” conditions, open drug consumption, and violence around temporary accommodation venues, particularly in the Hillhead area near Glasgow University.
- Local estimates suggest there are 13 homeless B&Bs operating in Hillhead alone, with claims that the Chez Nous guest house recently added six bedrooms.
- Hotel operators Ikram Hussain, Adam Hussain, and Mukul Biswas have been identified as beneficiaries involved in running several properties used for temporary accommodation, including the Queens Park, Hillhead, Chez Nous, and St Enoch hotels.
- A separate Police Scotland FOI response recorded seven “sudden death” incidents at the Queens Park Hotel between March 2020 and September 2022.
- Housing charities, including Shelter Scotland and the Scottish Tenants Organisation, alongside local council representatives, have attributed the rising expenditure to a severe shortage of social housing and an increase in refugee households leaving Home Office accommodation.
Glasgow Council (Glasgow Express) November 14, 2026 – Cash-strapped Glasgow City Council is projected to spend more than £84 million in a single year on bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless people—a 25 per cent increase on previous record expenditure—amid growing complaints from residents and campaigners over alleged “dosshouse” conditions and open drug use.
As reported by Mark McGivern of the Daily Record, figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed that Glasgow City Council spent £35 million on B&B accommodation during the five months from April to September 2026. Based on that trajectory, the local authority’s projected outlay for the 2026/27 financial year exceeds £84 million. Many of the individuals placed in these establishments are experiencing complex needs, including drug addiction and mental health issues, while critics allege that drugs are sold and consumed on the premises with little inhibition.
Earlier reporting on the city’s temporary accommodation expenditure highlighted the rapid escalation of costs. As reported by Norman Silvester and Gareth Edwards of Glasgow Live in May 2026, FOI data released by the Scottish Tenants Organisation showed that Glasgow City Council spent almost £70 million on hotels and B&Bs for homeless people during the previous year. Further figures published by John Glover of the Scottish Daily Express specified that the exact outlay for that period stood at £67,815,500, contributing to a three-year total exceeding £100 million for Glasgow alone, within a wider Scottish council expenditure of more than £200 million across 118,194 temporary hotel placements.
How are temporary accommodation hotels affecting local communities and residents?
Conditions inside and around several Glasgow hotels and guest houses used for emergency housing have drawn scrutiny from neighbourhood associations, campaigners, and residents. As reported by Mark McGivern of the Daily Record, local campaigner Toner stated that residents remain in what is intended to be temporary accommodation for far longer than they should. Meanwhile, representatives from Hara estimated that 13 homeless B&Bs are operating in the leafy Hillhead area alone, close to Glasgow University, and claimed that the Chez Nous guest house recently added six bedrooms to expand its capacity.
Residents living near the properties have described deteriorating safety and living conditions in their neighbourhoods. In an accompanying report by Mark McGivern of the Daily Record, a local resident named Derek described living near one of the hotels, stating:
“There’s guys doing drugs there or drinking, or both, and violence often breaks out. So I’m basically not going on the street outside my home after dark.”
In its investigation, the Daily Record identified hotel operators Ikram Hussain, his son Adam Hussain, and business partner Mukul Biswas as financial beneficiaries involved in running the Queens Park, Hillhead, Chez Nous, and St Enoch hotels in Glasgow. As previously reported by Mark McGivern of the Daily Record, these hotel groups received more than £25 million in taxpayer funds over a five-year period. A Police Scotland Freedom of Information response cited by the newspaper showed that seven “sudden death” incidents were recorded at the Queens Park Hotel alone between March 2020 and September 2022, while broader records indicated at least 23 deaths across the four linked properties since March 2020, many suspected to be connected to drug use. According to the Daily Record, reporters contacted both the Queens Park Hotel and the Chez Nous guest house to offer the owners an opportunity to respond to the latest findings, but neither establishment replied.
What have housing charities, campaigners, and Glasgow City Council said about the crisis?
Housing advocates and political commentators have pointed to systemic failures in housing supply as the primary driver behind the council’s reliance on private hotels and B&Bs. As reported by Mark McGivern of the Daily Record, one contributor commented on the local authority’s predicament, stating:
“I have a certain sympathy with the council, as the Scottish Government has been warned for more than 20 years that there is a housing shortage. They have ignored the warnings and that is why we find ourselves in this situation today.”
Addressing the earlier release of the £70 million spending figures, Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson highlighted the structural deficit in affordable housing. As reported by Norman Silvester and Gareth Edwards of Glasgow Live, Alison Watson stated:
“It is the lack of social housing driving up homelessness costs as it forces councils to keep relying on expensive temporary accommodation. Building more would save money and prevent cuts to local services. Unless more social homes are built, the housing emergency will only get worse and local authorities cannot tackle it alone. The next government must provide more support to the areas that need it most.”
Representatives of the Scottish Tenants Organisation also criticised the diversion of public funds into private hotel businesses rather than permanent housing stock. As reported by Norman Silvester and Gareth Edwards of Glasgow Live, a representative of the organisation stated:
“The only beneficiaries of this scandal are the owners of the hotels used to house the homeless.”
The group added:
“Everyone deserves a home, whether they are fleeing violence abroad or from a partner. Yet people in Glasgow have been failed for many years.”
Glasgow City Council has acknowledged the financial strain caused by the surging accommodation bill while pointing to its statutory duties under Scottish homelessness legislation and demographic pressures. As reported by Norman Silvester and Gareth Edwards of Glasgow Live, a Glasgow City Council spokeswoman stated:
“We are very aware of the rising cost of our hotel accommodation bill which has tripled over the past few years. Anyone who finds themselves unintentionally homeless has the right to apply for help from any local authority in Scotland. Glasgow’s historic reputation for helping support refugees makes us an attractive city and why many are travelling here to build a new life.”
Background
Scotland operates under some of the strongest statutory homelessness protections in the United Kingdom, obligating local authorities to provide temporary accommodation to anyone assessed as unintentionally homeless while they await a permanent home. Under Scottish legislation, the use of “unsuitable” temporary accommodation—which includes most forms of B&B and hotel rooms lacking cooking or laundry facilities—is legally restricted to a maximum of seven days, except in exceptional circumstances.
However, a severe shortage of permanent social housing, combined with rising living costs and an overall council budget gap of at least £110 million, has left Glasgow City Council unable to move applicants out of emergency placements within statutory timeframes. According to analysis by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), the number of households living in temporary accommodation across Scotland reached a record high of just over 19,000 by March 2026, with the average stay rising to 237 days. In Glasgow, demand has been compounded by changes to the UK Government’s asylum decision-making process; because Glasgow houses the majority of asylum seekers in Scotland, faster Home Office decisions have resulted in larger numbers of newly recognised refugees leaving asylum accommodation and presenting to the council as homeless, with 3,040 refugee or leave-to-remain households recorded in Glasgow temporary accommodation by March 2026—a 35 per cent annual increase.
Prediction: How Will This Development Affect Glasgow Taxpayers, Homeless Residents, and Local Communities?
If expenditure on temporary B&B accommodation continues to rise at its current pace, Glasgow City Council faces severe fiscal trade-offs that will directly affect local taxpayers and public service users. With the council already confronting a substantial budget deficit and warning of acute financial strain, absorbing an £84 million annual hotel bill—up from £67.8 million the previous year—is likely to force reductions in other discretionary council services, infrastructure maintenance, or community programmes, alongside potential increases in local council tax and service charges.
For homeless individuals placed in B&Bs and hotels, prolonged stays in environments lacking dedicated wrap-around medical, mental health, and addiction support risk exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and increasing the likelihood of substance-related harm or repeat homelessness. Meanwhile, without an accelerated programme of social housebuilding or targeted funding from the Scottish and UK governments to expand supported housing, neighbourhoods with high concentrations of emergency B&Bs—such as Hillhead—are likely to experience ongoing friction between local residents, property operators, and municipal authorities over public safety, anti-social behaviour, and local amenities.
