The 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, have started trending for the wrong reasons following what stakeholders described as “a major accommodation crisis” now rocking the Games.

The opening ceremony of the 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games was held yesterday (July 23), but many officials are yet to come to terms with the harsh accommodation situation in the city. The Games will run till August 2.

The Guardian learnt that no dedicated Athlete’s Games Village was built for the competition, and the situation has left organisers to rely entirely on existing commercial hotels across the city and central belt to house roughly 3,000 athletes.

According to reports, all the participating countries have resorted to seeking accommodation for their athletes and officials in hotels, thereby leading to sharp increase in prices.

An official of Team DR Congo, who spoke with The Guardian at the accreditation venue inside Glasgow Caledonia University (GCU) yesterday, claimed that they parted with as much as £240 pounds to secure a hotel room for one of their officials in one of the hotels.

“It is not funny,” the official said. “We have been running from pillar to post looking for accommodation for our athletes and officials because there is no official Games Village built for the athletes. And the hotels are capitalising on the situation to exploit people. We just coughed out £240 British Pounds to secure a room accommodation for some of our officials now. This is sad. There is scarcity of accommodation in Glasgow,” the official stated.

According to some of the locals here, the accommodation sector in Glasgow has faced severe pressure ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games because of a scaled-down budget, which prevented the organisers from putting in place a dedicated athlete’s village for the Games.

“Participating countries have to block-book thousands of ordinary hotel rooms, more than doubling average nightly rates to £334,” one official said.

Another official said: “Average hotel rates here in Glasgow are more than doubled (rising over 150 per cent), amplified by overlapping demand from Edinburgh’s concurrent festival season.

“Charities and council members raised serious concerns that tourist block-booking would squeeze out homeless individuals who rely on local hotels and B&Bs for temporary emergency accommodation.”

It was further learnt that Glasgow City Council rejected calls to grant temporary exemptions to unlicensed short-term rental properties, maintaining strict rules despite high visitor demand.

It was not clear yesterday how the National Sports Commission (NSC) is coping with the situation.

But an official who spoke with The Guardian, yesterday, said the NSC booked rooms in three hotels for the athletes and coaches.

“The NSC officials knew about the situation long ago, and they are handling it accordingly. There is no cause for alarm,” the official said.