Highland Council is having to “explore all available options” to shelter the region’s homeless.
The re-housing service is coming “under increasing pressure” to put a roof over people’s heads and takes a “rapid” approach when possible, it says.
The Lochaber Times was recently contacted by one man in Fort William who said the council wanted him to travel to Wick to get the only bed it could find him for that night.
Wick would have been about five hours away on public transport, he said, adding it was mid-afternoon by the time he got the offer, with no buses or trains running there.
The man, who had worked in hospitality in Fort William and the Highlands since 2016 with live-in accommodation before becoming homeless while looking for a job in a new sector, said the council’s out-of-hours helpline had arranged for him to stay at the Ben Nevis Hotel the night before.
A Highland Council spokesperson said she could not comment on individual cases but did say: “The Highland Council has a statutory duty to provide advice and assistance and where needed temporary accommodation.
“Our priority is to provide accommodation locally, however, if the applicant does not have a local connection to the area or accommodation is not available, they can be provided with accommodation in another area in Highland and assisted with travel.
“The service is under increasing pressure from homelessness and rehousing demands and is currently having to explore all available options across Highland. Where at all possible, we adopt a rapid rehousing approach to this provision and we aim to help households into settled, permanent accommodation.”
Information on homelessness can be found on the Highland Council’s website and includes two contact telephone numbers for the public to call day or night. https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/997/housing_advice/245/homelessness