With another of their sickly, tasteless images today, the Herald has:

Scotland’s housing costs safety net is failing with tens of thousands of families in need locked out of homes as support fails to cover soaring private rents, ministers have been warned. Explosive [sic] new analysis which lays bare the reality for those most in need, shows that just eight per cent of private rental homes are affordable for those relying on state support, deepening a national housing emergency declared by Holyrood nearly two years ago.

What’s missing? Cost of rent?

• Average monthly rent in Scotland – £1 012
• England – £1 422 – 40% higher
• Rate of increase in England – 4.4%
• Scotland – 3.3%

Source – ^{https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/privaterentandhousepricesuk/december2025}

Support for Housing?

In summary, while the baseline housing support (Universal Credit/Housing Benefit) is identical, Scotland provides significantly stronger safety nets through generous Discretionary Housing Payment funding, ensuring fewer low-income renters lose out due to bedroom tax, benefit cap, or LHA freezes. This extra investment (~£99m in 2025-26) protects tens of thousands of households that would otherwise face reductions in England.

Sources for the above claim [AI search of 36 sources]:

The claim that Scotland’s Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) protect tens of thousands of households (specifically referencing ~94,000 in recent contexts) primarily stems from the full mitigation of the bedroom tax (Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy) and partial mitigation of the benefit cap, preventing net financial losses that low-income renters would otherwise face in England.

Key Sources Supporting the Figure

• Scottish Government news release (October 2025): “Last year 94,000 households were supported by the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme in Scotland.”
  Link: https://www.gov.scot/news/boosting-crisis-support/ (published 26 October 2025)
• Scottish Government response to UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (November 2025): “£79.7 million [for 2025-26] is to fully mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 94,000 households in Scotland sustain their tenancies…”
  Link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-high-level-action-plan-response-committee-economic-social-cultural-rights/pages/13/
• Scottish Housing News (reporting on official Scottish Government announcement, October 2025): Explicitly states “Last year 94,000 households were supported” in the context of the £99m 2025-26 DHP budget.
  Link: https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/scottish-government-to-invest-ps99m-in-discretionary-housing-payments

Context from Official StatisticsThe 94,000 figure refers to households supported overall through the DHP scheme in the previous financial year (likely 2024-25), with the vast majority (80-90% in recent years) receiving awards specifically for bedroom tax mitigation. For example:

• In 2024-25, local authorities spent £74.2 million on bedroom tax mitigation alone (nearly 100% of allocated funds).
  Source: Scottish Government DHP statistics publication (May 2025): https://www.gov.scot/publications/discretionary-housing-payments-in-scotland-1-april-2024-to-31-march-2025/

This scale of support (tens of thousands, centred around 94,000 recently) ensures that affected households in Scotland avoid the rent reductions experienced by equivalent households in England. The exact number can vary slightly year-to-year based on caseload, but it consistently falls in this range for bedroom tax mitigation.

https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=2008855651083034783

Source for the ‘94,000 households were supported by the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme in Scotland’ – https://www.gov.scot/news/boosting-crisis-support/