Housing campaigners are demanding the Scottish Government uses a windfall from Westminster to bankroll the reinstatement of housing pledges.
Ahead of the Scottish budget being set on December 4, First Minister John Swinney has been told that he must order a reverse of cuts in house building targets.
Otherwise it is feared Scotland will face an avalanche of new cases on top of the homelessness emergency that has already been declared by the Scottish Government.
Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “The Scottish Government has a choice to make in this budget: reverse the cuts to housing and invest in local services or allow homelessness to rise.
“More than 10,000 children are living in temporary accommodation -the highest number on record and more than double the figure from a decade ago. It’s children who are paying the price for the government’s failure to tackle the housing emergency.
“If MSPs pass another budget that fails to adequately support housing, then they’re endorsing homelessness and condemning even more children to spend their childhoods without a permanent home.”
Watson said additional funding coming to Scotland as a result of UK spending decisions must be used to fully restore the Affordable Housing budget to bring it back up to £3.5bn over the course of this parliament, as a minimum, and make social housing the government’s number one national infrastructure priority.
She added: “Social housing is the only way to end Scotland’s housing emergency – and the government knows this.”
The Scottish Tenants Association claims that an extra £4.9 billion derived from the Barnett formula for devolved spending should fund the fixing of broken promises.
The group says added funding of £1.5 billion for this financial year and £3.4 billion for 2025-26 means that the Scottish Government can no longer blame Westminster for underfunding in housing.
They say it is critical that the Scottish Affordable Housing Supply Programme that was cut by £196 million is fully reinstated, amid an ongoing housing emergency.
The STA also calls for the reinstatement of the £3 million cut to the Housing Adaptations Budget ensuring the well-being and safety of elderly and disabled people in their homes.
Spokesman Sean Clerkin said: “The Scottish Government has to deliver for the people of Scotland at the Scottish Budget.
“The Scottish affordable housing supply programme was shamefully cut two years in a row, which is a hammer blow to tackling homelessness and poverty in Scotland.
“The Housing and Homelessness Emergency is worsening by the day with over 40,000 homeless applications having been made Scotland in the last year and it is inescapable that the Scottish Government will not meet their target of building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.”
He added: “The Scottish Government have no further excuses in blaming Westminster as the Rachel Reeves Budget gives the Scottish Government the extra monies needed to improve the lives of people in Scotland.”
The means testing of a new Pension Age Winter Fuel Payment of up to £300 to all Pensioners in Scotland has also been cited by the group, which calls for £160 million to aid to ensure all pensioners benefit this winter.
The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves recently presented a budget that announced that the Scottish Government will be provided with a £47.7 billion settlement in 2025/26 – the largest in real terms in the history of devolution.
This includes a £3.4 billion top-up through the Barnett formula, with £2.8 billion for day-to-day spending and £610 million for capital investment.
Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and communications for Crisis in Scotland, said moves must be made to stop homelessness from happening in the first place.
She said: “New measures to prevent homelessness in the Housing Bill will help do that, but they will only be effective if they are backed by the funding required to make them a success.
“That’s why we’re calling on the Scottish Government use the upcoming budget to invest in homelessness prevention projects, by expanding on the effective work already taking place, and stop more people experiencing the trauma and indignity of homelessness.”
In response to the demands, housing minister Paul McLennan refused to immediately commit any additional cash to building new homes.
He said: “The Scottish Government has a strong track record in housing having supported the delivery of more than 133,000 affordable homes since 2007, with more than 94,000 of those being for social rent, 45% more affordable homes per head of population than in England and 70% more than in Wales.
“We are investing nearly £600 million this year in affordable homes, including an additional £40 million to increase the availability of social and affordable homes through acquisitions and bringing long term voids back into use.”
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