Questions over Oasis clash with Fringe in 2025 causing disaster for capital’s homeless.
Large-scale events in Edinburgh forced the capital’s council to break the law hundreds of times by placing homeless households in unsuitable accommodation as revellers descend on the city and hotel prices skyrocket.
New figures released to TFN through freedom of information legislation found widespread mishandling of homelessness cases in Edinburgh during August’s Fringe and in the days surrounding Taylor Swift’s record-breaking concerts at Murrayfield.
TFN previously revealed that those using homeless services in Edinburgh had been informed they were to be removed from their hotel-style accommodation in the city when the Cruel Summer superstar came to town.
It has now emerged hundreds of households - including vulnerable women, children, and those with disabilities - were forced into unsuitable accommodation in the week before and week after the Taylor Swift shows in June this year. The council also broke the law for similar actions during the Edinburgh Fringe in August.
The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2014, which came into effect in 2020, outlines that homeless households should not be placed in temporary accommodation that is “unsuitable”.
These regulations are legally binding and are intended to prevent the use of B&B and hotel accommodation, with “basic, location and physical” standards which need to be met. A limited amount of exceptions are in place - some of which are limited to stays of up to seven days, while others are not time-limited.
In total, 331 people were placed in unsuitable accommodation by City of Edinburgh Council between May 30 and June 13 2024 - around the Taylor Swift concert, with 229 households affected as part of these placements.
The totals increased during the Fringe, with 329 households - amounting to 494 individuals - placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation between August 1 and 25 2024.
Overall, the council broke the law 825 times over the two events - or more than 20 times per day on average.
During both time periods, three-quarters (75%) of those placed in temporary accommodation by City of Edinburgh Council were in unsuitable housing.
Among those who were placed in unsuitable accommodation were dozens of households who were forced to leave the city during the Fringe as well as around the Taylor Swift concerts in June.
In total 200 households of 253 people were forced from Edinburgh due to a lack of accommodation in the city, with 77 groups totalling 93 people between May 30 and June 13 2024, and 160 people making up 123 households who were placed outwith Edinburgh between August 1 and 25.
These totals included 97 children, two-thirds of whom were with lone parents, 60 individuals with disabilities, and 38 single women.
More than half of the adults removed from Edinburgh due to a lack of housing in the city were women. A further 55% of those placed outside of the city were from a minority ethnic background, despite ethnic minorities making up less than 18% of the city’s population.
Shelter Scotland director, Alison Watson, said: “These figures serve as yet another stark reminder of just how utterly broken and biased Edinburgh’s housing system is.
“This is a city that’s proud of its reputation for hosting major events, but they consistently have a devastating knock on effect for people experiencing homelessness.
“Scotland’s capital should be able to welcome visitors while fulfilling its obligations to homeless residents; that is clearly not the case as things stand.
“Sending people miles away from their communities just so they can get a roof over their heads is deeply harmful for those affected, not to mention a waste of council resources.
“Since becoming the first city in Scotland to declare a housing emergency the situation in Edinburgh has continued to deteriorate so councillors clearly need to take action, but local authorities have been starved of funding for years now and can’t be expected to pick up the pieces on their own.
“Decades of underinvestment in social housing is the root cause of Edinburgh’s housing emergency, compounded by years of austerity which has driven people into poverty.
“Until every level of government gets serious about tackling the housing emergency homeless people in the city will continue to pay a high price when the world comes to Edinburgh.”
Those placed outside of Edinburgh were not always returned to the capital within days. On average, placements outside of the city lasted for around seven days for those first removed from Edinburgh during the May/June period, and for around nine days during the Fringe.
However, placements lasted as long as 88 days - meaning at least one person who was moved out of Edinburgh ahead of the Taylor Swift concerts in June had not returned to the city by the time the Fringe ended on August 25.
Another homeless individual who was provided with unsuitable accommodation outside of Edinburgh during the Fringe spent 29 days outside of the city.
On average, those who were forced to stay outside of the city during these events had to travel 46.7 miles and 44.2 miles respectively.
These distances were small compared to some journeys. During the period covering Taylor Swift’s shows in Edinburgh, one household was forced to travel 127 miles. Another - during the Fringe in August - was provided with unsuitable accommodation 137 miles from the city’s temporary accommodation office.
These distances cover as far north as Dornoch or the Isle of Skye, as far west as the Isle of Islay, or as far south as Lancaster or Middlesborough.
City of Edinburgh Council spent £86,694 on transport for households forced out of the capital to find accommodation, with the total cost of accommodation outwith the city coming in at £163,163.07.
In May TFN was told of individuals who had complex personal issues which meant they should be unable to be placed in accommodation with shared lodgings or bathrooms. This led to them being faced with a choice between inaccessible accommodation within Edinburgh, or being forced outwith the city - with no access to health or social support.
Those supporting homeless individuals in Edinburgh believe the impact of large-scale events, and the increased demand for and cost of high-quality temporary accommodation in the city means the situation in the capital is getting worse.
In the 12 months to November 2023 87 households were placed in temporary accommodations on a total of 95 occasions outside of the City of Edinburgh. Individuals spent up to three weeks outside of the city, with the average stay being seven days - with the average distance being less than 40 miles from the city, compared to around 45 miles during this year’s events.
The council themselves have recognised this increased use of temporary accommodation outside of Edinburgh.
A report presented at the city’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee on Tuesday, October 1 said: “The growth in demand is also impacting on the Council’s ability to deliver its statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation to households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. In the period April to August 2024 there were 812 occasions when the Council failed to accommodate a homeless household. This compares to 391 occasions in the same period in 2023. These are not always due to a lack of accommodation.
“Officers are currently analysing the failures to accommodate data for 2023/24 to establish the requirement for additional accommodation to meet this need. This will include establishing the type of accommodation required and projected costs.
“There has also been a significant rise in the number of out of Edinburgh temporary accommodation placements. In July 2023 there were seven placements compared to 108 in July 2024.”
Councillor Ben Parker, a Green representative who sits on the committee, told TFN: “Green councillors remain deeply concerned about the routine placement of homeless families and individuals outside of the city. Not only does this cost the tax-payer vast amounts of money, the disruption this causes homeless families is completely unacceptable.
“We have been shining a spotlight on this issue at the most recent Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee meeting where we have requested information about the number and costs of these out of city placements to come forward in future, routine committee reports, and we will be monitoring this closely.
“Whilst we are supportive of the city hosting such large-scale events, it's important that these do not come at the expense of some of the most vulnerable members of our community. It's not right that billionaire performers can compound the challenges and distress of homeless households in the city, and it's certainly not right that they cost the taxpayer money for the privilege of doing so either.
“Last year, I was pleased to propose a motion calling for income from the city's forthcoming Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) to be spent on social housing - that's because we understand the clear link between these kinds of superstar events, and the pressures they put on our already broken housing system.
“Whilst the figures coming forward today - and in future reports to the Housing committee - are unpalatable, they are a helpful illustration of just why the Scottish Government must allow councils to use TVL money for housing when the levy is introduced next year."
Pop superstar Swift played three nights at Murrayfield between June 7 and 9, with an estimated 218,000 tickets sold across the three nights.
While it remains nearly a year away, concerns have already been raised about the potential impact of holding concerts of a similar scale at the same time as the Fringe is held.
Oasis have sold out three nights at Murrayfield in August 2025 at the same time as the Fringe will be taking place in the city, meaning more than 200,000 additional visitors will travel to Edinburgh during the Festival season compared to previous years.
In Edinburgh, a total of 19 hotels, hostels and B&Bs which are still operational have been publicly listed or reported as being used as temporary accommodation for homeless individuals in Edinburgh in the past five years.
Of those, 13 are already sold out for nights Oasis is in town, with prices for the remaining six ranging from £120 per night to £851. On average, those who still have availability were charging £427 per night during these shows, meaning significant pressures could be placed on City of Edinburgh Council to find suitable temporary accommodation in the city during this period.
Ewan Aitken, chief executive of homelessness prevention charity Cyrenians, said: “Events like the Festival, Oasis and Taylor Swift are not the cause of the problems of homelessness Edinburgh faces. They only serve to highlight an ongoing problem in Scotland’s capital. Edinburgh was the second local authority in Scotland to declare a housing emergency – and for very good reason.
“At last count, 3,817 households were living in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh – and many of those cases would be deemed to be unsuitable. Our city is at breaking point. There is no way for the council to change this unless we build more social housing and – most crucially – decision makers start to inject serious investment into homelessness prevention.
“It is only by mitigating the side effects of poverty, inequality and multiple disadvantages that all too often lead to homelessness that we can expect to get out of this situation any time soon. As a city of culture, which attracts millions of visitors every year – we should not be asked to choose between large cultural events and stable homes for its population.”
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work convener Jane Meagher said: “In Edinburgh, we declared a housing emergency in November to recognise the pressures on temporary accommodation and draw attention to the issue. There is a significant lack of housing in Edinburgh right now and we know that it is hard for anyone looking for a social housing tenancy. The reality is that demand for temporary accommodation in Edinburgh far outstrips supply which means that sometimes we’re unable to access any in the city.
“The stark choice facing us is that we either look for suitable accommodation outside Edinburgh or people will have to sleep on the streets which no one wants. Wherever this happens we will always support people back to accommodation within the city as soon as possible.
“We created the housing emergency action plan to deliver systematic change to reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation, but we can’t do it alone. It’s clear we need a concerted and co-ordinated response to our housing emergency, and my thanks go to our partners who have shown support from the day we declared it.
“It gives me great confidence that we can work together to improve the situation but if we don’t have the funding to increase our supply of affordable homes, we’ll continue to be forced to provide a roof over people’s heads wherever and however we can. Every single person deserves a suitable, safe, and affordable place to call home, and we will continue to fight for fairer funding and to demand urgent and united action.”
