A LEADING homelessness charity has dropped a legal case against Glasgow City Council after it was announced that the housing regulator is to intervene in the city.

Shelter Scotland commenced legal action last August over the authority’s alleged failure to meet its statutory duty to provide adequate temporary accommodation to homeless residents.

The number of occasions on  which the council breached its duty had continued to rise, despite the council being four years into a five-year improvement plan agreed with the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR).

Now the SHR has announced it will investigate the council’s ability to provide temporary housing, which Shelter has called a massive victory for its campaign to “fix” Glasgow’s homelessness service.

Shelter’s director Graeme Brown said: “This regulator inquiry is long overdue.

“Those in power were ignoring this massive injustice. They are not ignoring it any more.

“Our attention now shifts to the regulator and we will be sharing our evidence of the council’s ongoing failures from our Glasgow hub.”

The intervention was announced last month, hours before a Court of Session hearing, and led to Shelter’s decision to drop the case.

However, the charity warned that the campaign would continue as the issues had not disappeared.

Since its legal challenge was announced, some 100 people have  approached Shelter for help in finding temporary accommodation in the city.

Mr Brown said: “The inquiry from the Scottish Housing Regulator brings new hope that this grave injustice can be stopped without going to court.

“The regulator still has the option to replace the city council’s management team if they cannot show that they are capable of upholding their legal duty.

“We will be providing all our evidence to the regulator to assist with its inquiry and we will also return to court if necessary.”

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “Shelter’s legal action had no impact on the regulator’s decision and we welcome their move to abandon their court case.

“We are working constructively with the regulator in order to improve homelessness services and our door remains open to Shelter to engage positively with us.”