First Minister called on to make emergency statement to parliament in response to Scotland’s growing housing emergency

A leading housing and homelessness charity has written to the First Minister asking him to make an urgent statement to parliament outlining his plans to address the housing emergency.

In the wake of both the Scottish and UK budgets, Shelter Scotland has written to Humza Yousaf asking that a statement be made in Holyrood before the Easter recess.

The Scottish Government’s budget slashed funding for social housing by 26%, however finance secretary Shona Robison pledged to prioritise housing if additional funding became available.

At its annual housing festival, the Chartered Institute of Housing became the latest body to declare a housing emergency, with more local authorities set to follow suit in the coming months.

Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said:

“Whether or not the First Minister is willing to acknowledge it, the fact is that we are in the middle of a housing emergency.

“Nearly 10,000 children are trapped in temporary accommodation, when it comes to housing local authorities are breaking the law on an unprecedented scale, and record numbers of people are stuck in the homelessness system. If that is not a housing emergency, then what is?

“Standing by and watching as an already dire situation deteriorates even further is not an option. We need to see a plan of action that can deliver change before the next set of homelessness statistics are published in August later this year.

“The Scottish Government chose to deprioritise housing in its budget by imposing an enormous cut which was entirely disproportionate to the reduction in total funding available to it.

“Now that the dust has settled on both the UK and Scottish government’s budget, ministers have a responsibility to come before parliament and set out exactly how they intend to respond to a housing emergency which continues to get worse on their watch.”

“The 10,000 children in Scotland with nowhere to call home shouldn’t be made to wait a day longer.”