18 people lost their homes every minute in Scotland last year. Here’s what it feels like to be on the streets.

“ANY spare change mate?” The line we hear daily. The line we often choose to ignore.

This world of people who live in squats, in doorways, in hostels, in boxes, or anywhere not actually constituting a real home, is a world fraught with danger, aggression and hunger.

And the number in this situation is only going up.

Figures released by Shelter Scotland reveal that homelessness applications rose in Scotland for the first time in nine years last year.

The analysis also shows that 18 people lost their homes every minute last year in Scotland.

While figures and analysis may show the scale of the problem, they do little to instil the reality of life for many rough sleepers.

One of Glasgow’s throngs of homeless, Graham has lived on and off the streets for the second half of his life, after being in and out of care for the first half.

Like many rough sleepers, his life wasn’t set up for success from the beginning. What pains him most though is the fact that he is always surrounded by people but feels completely alone.

“People act like you’re just not even there,” he says. “It’s worse when they don’t even look at you.

“Even just a look from someone to acknowledge I’m here would make my day so much better.

“People can be nice though. They’ll often bring me cups of tea, or give me sandwiches and food.

“My patch is like a bus stop as well. Once one person sees someone helping you out with money or food, then a whole load of others do it too.”

But why is Scotland’s homelessness problem on the rise again after it had gone down?

A lot is to do with rising living costs and cuts believes Alison Watson, deputy director of Shelter Scotland.

She said: “Due to a perfect storm of spiralling rents, very harsh welfare cuts and a major lack of social housing, record numbers of people are sleeping out on the streets, stuck in poor quality accommodation or in a cramped hostel room.”