Social Bite homeless village house unveiled

A prototype of the house to be used in a new village for the homeless has been unveiled.

Work has begun on the Social Bite Village in the Granton area of Edinburgh, which is expected to welcome its first residents near Christmas.

The two-bedroom prototype home was unveiled by Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of the Social Bite sandwich shop chain behind the village plans, in the city's St Andrew Square on Thursday.

The village aims to provide an alternative to a ''broken temporary accommodation system'' for those struggling with homelessness.

Mr Littlejohn said: "It's really nice when you've had a bit of a vision in your head for quite a long time to see it be realised in some way.

"We've learned a lot about the homelessness issue and we respond to it currently as a society.

"Quite often people associate homelessness just simply with rough sleeping, but a far larger part of the issue is all these hundreds of people in all the big cities caught up in the temporary accommodation system. It almost feels, as a society, we're writing them off.

"A crucial part of the jigsaw to solving the issue of homelessness is really addressing the temporary accommodation system.''

The village will provide a safe living environment for up to 20 people from a homeless background for around 12 months at a time, with residents then beginning their transition back into society.

It is anticipated the scheme will save the council almost £200,000 a year, with the current average cost per homeless person in the city being more than £17,000 for B&B accommodation.

The 1.5-acre site is being built on vacant local authority land given to Social Bite on a ''meanwhile use'' basis, meaning it can be used until the land needs to be developed.

It will have 10 transportable homes and a communal building where residents can eat together, socialise, work, learn and receive support.

The energy efficient, eco-friendly, sustainable buildings will each have two loft bedrooms, a shared bathroom with shower, a lounge with a wood burner and a small kitchen and dining area.

Work on the village began after a fundraising campaign in December which saw 300 of Scotland's top business and political figures sleep rough to raise money for the project.

Sonny Murray became homeless in 2011, but has managed to get back on his feet after starting in work in one of the Social Bite kitchens in 2013.

The 38-year-old said: "To have a roof over their head, to have support and job opportunities is amazing.

"I wish more things like that would happen for the homeless people.''

In 2016, movie star Leonardo DiCaprio stopped for lunch at Social Bite venture Home in Edinburgh's west end before delivering an address at the Scottish Business Awards.

His visit followed that of Hollywood star George Clooney to the chain's Rose Street branch, where he launched an appeal to help the homeless and fund an aid convoy to refugee camps in Europe