Nearly £7million has now been spent by North Ayrshire Council on emergency accommodation in the last two years.

Figures show that in 2023-24, £2,813,786 was spent on temporary furnished accommodation and £951,614 used for hostel accommodation, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

This is up from the previous year when £2,265,487 was spent on temporary furnished accommodation and £842,086 on hostel accommodation.

The number of households who have been placed in emergency accommodation/temporary housing in the last year were 949 in 23-24 and 978 the previous year.

Each household is assessed on an individual basis and allocated the most suitable accommodation based on their needs and the accommodation available at the time. 

Every unit of accommodation, whether direct access or in the community has a self-contained kitchen and bathroom. 

The average days spent in accommodation in 2023-24 was 58, compared to 65 in 2022-23.

The longest stay by days were 798 in 2023-24 and 913 in 2022-23.