SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar pledged today to launch a “housebuilding revolution” should he win the keys to Bute House in May.

Analysis by the party points to 5,000 fewer houses per year being built since SNP came to power in 2007 than under the previous Labour-LibDem coalition, meaning 90,000 new homes could have been built had the SNP kept pace with their predecessors.

Citing that slow-down as “the root” of a Scottish housing crisis which has seen homelessness soar to record levels and left more than 10,000 children in temporary accommodation, Mr Sarwar said: “The SNP’s housing emergency is causing misery for countless Scots.

“At the root of this crisis is a shortage of housing created by this failing SNP government.

“The SNP fanned the flames of the housing emergency by letting housebuilding plummet — but this election is a chance to demand better.

“A Scottish Labour government led by me will end the SNP’s housing emergency at last and kickstart a housebuilding revolution.

“I will get Scotland building by overhauling our dated planning system and I will ease the pressure on communities by delivering fair funding for councils.”

SNP housing secretary Mairi McAllan argued her government has a “strong track record in housing” and said it had “delivered an average of 40 per cent more affordable homes than the period between 1999 and 2007.”

She added: “The legal duty for preventing and responding to homelessness sits with local authorities, including the commissioning of temporary accommodation.

“We have targeted £80 million towards local authorities experiencing the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures, enabling them to buy family homes on the open market and help reduce the use of unsuitable temporary accommodation.”