New homeless village offers ‘brilliant solution’ that organisers want to bring to a town near you

Residents have moved into a new homeless village that organisers believe could offer councils an affordable way to address rising homelessness.

Social Bite’s new £3 million Harriet Gardens village of sustainable modular homes opens its doors on Thursday (9 April) at the former Westfield Saw Mills site in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, following a three-year wait.

It’s the second village the Scottish social enterprise has opened following a settlement in Granton, near Edinburgh, back in 2018.

The new supported living community arrives at a time when homelessness has increased across Scotland with local authorities and the Scottish government declaring housing emergencies in recent times.

Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn told Big Issue that the new village demonstrates what could be a “brilliant solution” to a homelessness crisis that has seen a record-high 18,092 households trapped in temporary accommodation across Scotland.

“We feel we’ve got a fantastic homelessness accommodation model here now that would work in towns and cities all over the country basically,” Littlejohn told Big Issue. “We’re excited to start having those conversations and trying to work proactively with local councils to help bring this to other places.

“If you think about all of the councils declaring housing emergencies all over Britain, this is just a brilliant, brilliant solution to that. It’s not going to solve the whole thing but it’s going to make a massive difference to the people that are here.”

The first Social Bite village has helped more than 100 people experiencing homelessness to live independently in shared modular homes.

The new village opened its doors on Thursday (9 April) two years after it was granted approval.

Operated by South Lanarkshire Council with support provided by The Salvation Army, people who are currently homeless will live in 15 single-unit homes.

The modular Nest Houses, manufactured by Ecosystems Technologies, have been improved following “eight years of feedback”, Littlejohn said.

Residents also have access to an outdoor gym and a central community hub with shared spaces for cooking, group activities, therapeutic support and social connection.

They are expected to spend between six and 12 months in the village with intensive wraparound support before moving on to the mainstream housing market.

The council’s homelessness lead toured Social Bite’s original Edinburgh village, according to Littlejohn, and decided to decommission the Lindsay House hostel in East Kilbride, which closed last year.

“They felt it was outdated and not really fit for purpose and they were just getting really poor outcomes from it,” said Littlejohn.

“I think they thought that the village could be a state of the art, purpose-built, alternative supported accommodation facility. It’s been quite a long process, but a rewarding one to see it come to fruition.”

Littlejohn said the construction offers a more affordable alternative to temporary accommodation at around £82,000 per housing unit without compromising on quality.

He added: “We were getting great outcomes where we saw people were really thriving and the people that were staying there were saying: ‘Wow, this is so much better than B&B’s or hostels or obviously rough sleeping.’

“It was proving a really superior alternative so we felt the model had a lot of legs for other towns or cities to take it on.”

Read more:

• Dismantling of London tent village sparks fears over what happened to people who lived there
• This innovative ‘village’ under Manchester’s railway arches helps tackle homelessness
• Social Bite’s Josh Littlejohn explains how his Edinburgh cafe ‘made friends’ with George Clooney

A total of 2,467 people declared as homeless in South Lanarkshire between 2024-25.

Sharon Egan, South Lanarkshire Council’s head of housing services, said the project offered the chance for the local authority to change how it addresses homelessness.

“This development began with an ambition, supported by our elected members and senior leadership team, to explore new and innovative approaches to homelessness, particularly for people with complex needs.” said Egan.

“From the outset, Social Bite were a key partner in helping us turn that ambition into a reality, and I want to recognise the commitment, creativity and persistence they have shown throughout the journey and in particular thank Social Bite for the significant investment toward responding to and resolving homelessness in South Lanarkshire.

“We are very proud of what has been achieved with this project and look forward to seeing the impact it will have for many years to come.”

As for Social Bite, the ambition doesn’t stop at South Lanarkshire.

The social enterprise, which has counted Leonardo Di Caprio and George Clooney among its celebrity supporters in the past, is hoping other councils will come forward to adopt the homeless village model.

Social Bite has offered to make a financial contribution to cover construction and subsidise costs to local authorities.

“We’d had the original village project in Edinburgh since 2018 and we’ve been kind of doing our own thing there and it’s been really successful,” said Littlejohn.

“But other local authorities or local and national governments haven’t taken a great deal of interest in it over the last eight years.

“Now it seems like there’s quite significant interest from lots of local authorities. South Lanarkshire was the first one that took a bit of interest.

“We’re keen to really try and push the accelerator now.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

Change a vendor’s life.

Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week – and always take the magazine. It’s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.

You can also support online:Subscribe to the magazine or support our work with a monthly gift. Your support helps vendors earn, learn and thrive while strengthening our frontline services.

Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.