9585 kids woke up this morning with nowhere to call home

Charity boss calls for Yousaf to declare homeless emergency

- MARK McGIVERN

THE number of children stuck in temporary housing has soared to almost 10,000 - prompting demands for a homeless emergency to be declared.

Shelter director Alison Watson claims Scotland's housing crisis is the worst it has been in 20 years with thousands of kids facing the "limbo" of B&Bs and homeless shelters.

She said: "We've now got 9585 kids waking up this morning homeless and in temporary accommodation with nowhere to call home.

Alison is demanding that First Minister Humza Yousaf orders an emergency response to put more families in permanent homes.

Shelter claims that every day children spend in temporary accommodation causes them trauma - with many being bullied at school because of their living conditions.

Alison is now demanding that the Scottish Government funds the purchase of private sector properties to provide homes for affordable rent to alleviate the crisis.

She said: "The current situation breaks my heart. I've worked for Shelter Scotland for just over 20 years and I've never seen it as bad as this.

"I've never had such a palpable feeling of so many families suffering genuine harm - genuine distress.

"Scotland keeps breaking records that we should never want to see broken again.

"And we've now reached a stage where every 60 minutes another household becomes homeless.

"So we've seen a 130 per cent increase in the number of children who are homeless or in temporary accommodation since 2014." Alison said it was up to Yousaf to personally acknowledge the deepening emergency.

She added: "Shelter Scotland wants to feel confident that the First Minister and his government get that this is a desperate, urgent situation.

"We want to hear him say he will declare an emergency and put an emergency action plan in place by 2026.