SCOTLAND’S politicians must put delivering “housing justice” at the heart of next year’s Holyrood elections, a coalition of homeless organisations have demanded.

Everyone Home, made up of 36 charity and academic organisations involved in the fight against homelessness, launched its manifesto at Scotland’s annual homelessness conference in Perth today.

The All In For Change document challenges those seeking election in May to commit to ramping up the building of social housing to 16,000 in each of the five years of the next Scottish parliamentary term. 

Frustration has continued to grow as a record-breaking tally of more than 10,000 children continue to languish in temporary accommodation 18 months after the Scottish Parliament declared a national housing emergency.

An Everyone Home statement said: “We see every day how the housing emergency hurts people who are homeless and those trying to help them.

“Front-line workers do amazing work, but they’re trapped in a broken system with too little housing and support to fix it.

“Some of us have been homeless ourselves, so we know the reality first hand.

“But we believe this can be made better for others, with real political commitment and funding being used more wisely.

“We’ve laid out clear expectations for party manifestos, and we’ll keep pushing to shield people from the worst of homelessness in this housing emergency.”

Maggie Brunjes, chief executive of Homeless Network Scotland, who hosted the conference, said: “Scotland’s housing emergency is a plan gone wrong, driving homelessness and deepening inequality.

“The Everyone Home collective manifesto is a plan to put that right and a call for housing justice.”

Speaking ahead of her address at the conference, SNP Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan announced her plan to plough an extra £1.6 million to help tackle the crisis, including £1m for discretionary housing payments to help councils move people from temporary accommodation into settled homes, a £100,000 boost to a fund supporting rough sleepers and £500,000 to expand Fund to Leave, a programme helping women to escape abusive partners.

Ms McAllan said: “Our approach to supporting people is rooted in compassion and is driven by the belief that everyone, regardless of circumstance, deserves a place to call home.

“When we get housing and anti-poverty measures right, we don’t just solve a problem, we build a fairer and healthier Scotland for generations.”