A significant investment has been agreed to help tackle homelessness in South Lanarkshire. The project will turn a vacant building in Hamilton into 15 temporary 鈥楩irst Stop鈥 housing units, meaning fewer people will be put up in expensive and unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation. Davie McLachlan, South Lanarkshire Council鈥檚 chair of housing and technical resources, said: 鈥淚t is 12 months since South Lanarkshire Council declared a housing emergency in response to growing pressures across Scotland, linked to the cost of living crisis, the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and issues with private sector supply of homes. 鈥淏etween 2020 and 2023 the backlog of households requiring urgent housing more than doubled, and there was a 38 per cent increase in the number of people recorded as homeless by the council. 鈥淲hile our Temporary Accommodation Strategic Plan makes it clear we want to place people in ordinary homes in our communities 鈥 self-contained, furnished properties – increasingly we have had to look at other forms of temporary accommodation, including B&Bs. 鈥淏y increasing our First Stop provision, we will save on B&B costs and ensure people who need temporary help are placed in a more appropriate and supportive environment.鈥 The Executive Committee agreed on Wednesday, June 25, that the council-owned, former Beckford Street Business Centre in Hamilton should be converted to add to current First Stop provision, with repairs and one-off set up costs estimated at just over 拢1 million. In 2024-25 the council spent 拢147,000 on bed and breakfast provision 鈥 more than five times the amount budgeted for that use. *Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .