MORE than 10,000 children growing up without a permanent home is evidence of the SNP’s “catastrophic failures” in government, Scottish Labour charged today.
Latest Scottish government figures show 40,685 people made homelessness applications in 2023-24 – 4 per cent more than a year earlier and the most since 2011-12.
They also showed that 7 per cent had slept rough within three months of their application and 5 per cent the night before, a rise from 4 and 6 per cent respectively.
Over the same period, 16,330 Scottish households languished in temporary accommodation, a rise of 9 per cent in a year and the highest on record.
Among them were a shocking 10,110 children – itself a record high.
Figures found that accommodation is now more likely to be a B&B as their usage grew from 12 to 16 per cent last year.
Shelter Scotland’s Alison Watson said: “These figures show clearly that it is children in Scotland that are paying the highest price for politicians’ failure to get a grip on the housing emergency.
“They should be a source of great national shame.”
Scottish Labour Housing spokesman Mark Griffin branded the figures a “damning indictment of the SNP’s record.”
He said: “No amount of SNP spin and deflection can mask the fact that they let homelessness soar and left over 10,000 kids without a permanent home.
“Instead of dealing with the housing emergency taking grip in Scotland, the SNP fanned its flames by slashing the affordable housing budget and letting housebuilding plummet.
“Scots cannot keep paying the price for the SNP’s catastrophic failures.”
SNP housing minister Paul McLennan said the figues “demonstrate the scale of the challenge we face,” adding “I am determined to work with partners to reverse this trend.”
Chair of tenants’ union Living Rent Aditi Jehangir said: “The Scottish government has the power to stop this but at the moment it is not doing enough.
“We all know Scotland’s social housing stock is not enough to meet Scotland’s needs.
“Landlords and developers have convinced the Scottish government that the private rented sector will fix the housing crisis but this could not be further from the truth.
“Too many people are being forced out of the private sector due to high rents or by landlords who break the rules.
“We need strong rent controls that bring down rents so that no one is made homeless due to unaffordable rents.
“And we need stronger protections against eviction and greater support to stay put.
“The government needs to fund social housing associations to build more social homes."
