Shelter Scotland urges MSPs to back housing emergency declaration.

Shelter Scotland has urged MSPs to unite and declare a national housing emergency when a motion comes before Holyrood on Wednesday.

The charity pointed to the 10,000 children in Scotland living in temporary accommodation, rising homelessness, failing local services, and runaway private rents as evidence of Scotland’s housing emergency.

However, it added that any declaration must be swiftly followed by a plan to deliver the urgent action needed to end the housing emergency; delivering more social homes and ensuring local homelessness services have the resources they need to do their jobs.

Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said:

“Scotland is clearly in a housing emergency and it’s time for our politicians to unite, recognise that it’s devastating the communities they represent, and tell us what they’re going to do to end it.

“The last time this issue was debated at Holyrood, John Swinney said if we’re going to declare a housing emergency then we need to put our money where our mouth is – he now has a chance to do just that. The First Minister’s mission to end child poverty is a noble one, but it simply cannot succeed while 10,000 children have nowhere to call home. 

“I would urge MSPs across the parliament to back the declaration and commit to taking the kind of urgent action we need to fix our utterly broken housing system.”