COUNTRY FACING HOUSING CRISIS SKY HIGH RENTS A 'DISASTER' FOR POORER FAMILIES

92% of private lets are unaffordable to people on benefits

- MARK MCGIVERN

SCOTLAND'S housing crisis has made 92 per cent of private rented homes unaffordable to people on benefits.

Sky high rents and dwindling government support has propelled thousands of Scots into poverty and homelessness.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland is calling for an urgent aid package to keep a roof over families' heads - and a renewed target to build social homes to ease the crisis.

The research, by the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, comes after a recent tide of unrest, which has led to an official housing emergency being declared in Edinburgh.

Glasgow City Council also warns of an oncoming "humanitarian disaster", all fuelled by a shortage of homes and ever increasing demand.