Labour demand Humza Yousaf make a statement on ‘housing emergency’

Mark Griffin has written to Humza Yousaf urging him to make an urgent statement to parliament outlining his plans to improve the state of housing in Scotland. 

In the letter, Scottish Labour’s housing spokesperson accused the Scottish Government of being in “complete denial” about the scale of the “housing emergency in Scotland”.  

This follows a letter from housing charity Shelter Scotland earlier this month that demanded the first minister outline how the Scottish Government plans to respond “to a housing emergency which continues to get worse on their watch”. 

The letters come in the wake of the Scottish budget, which saw funding for affordable housing cut by 26 per cent. While figures from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show that nearly 10,000 children face life in temporary accommodation in Scotland. 

In November last year, MSPs voted against declaring a housing emergency after Griffin brought forward the motion.  

Scottish Labour says they will use Tuesday’s meeting of the parliamentary bureau to request a statement from the first minister in the week ahead.    

Griffin said: “The Scottish Government are in complete denial about the scale of the housing emergency in Scotland. 

“In the face of record high homelessness, rents and mortgages spiralling, and housebuilding plummeting, the Scottish Government response has been to cut the housing budget by 26 per cent.  

“This is a bitter blow to the nearly 10,000 children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland today, without a home to call their own. 

“Such a devastating cut to the housing budget will only result in more and more children forced into homelessness, their calls to find them a home simply falling on deaf ears. 

“Not only are the Scottish Government standing idly by and watching a worsening housing situation in Scotland, but their budget cuts are actively making it worse. 

“Humza Yousaf must wake up, listen to the demands of Shelter Scotland, and outline to parliament how he intends to respond to what can only be described as a housing emergency.”