RECORD figures for homelessness in Scotland have laid bare a system at “breaking point,” campaigners warned today.

The number of people sleeping rough before applying for support has reached a record high of 2,465 in 2024-25, up from 1,932 the previous year, according to new government data.

The number of households living in temporary accommodation has also reached an all-time high of 17,240, an increase of 910 from the previous year.

Maeve McGoldrick from homelessness charity Crisis Scotland said the figures laid bare a “homelessness system at breaking point.”

“We know how to tackle and ultimately end homelessness in Scotland. That means building significantly more social homes, so supply meets growing demand,” she said.

“And it means reforming our public services to support people much earlier on, helping households to keep their home.”

The Scottish Parliament declared a national housing emergency last year, but Shelter Scotland’s Gordon MacRae criticised the government’s action plan as offering nothing that will bring homelessness to an end.

“All of Scotland’s politicians know what is needed: deliver a minimum of 15,693 social homes every year so that the local services that can prevent and end homelessness have the tools to do their job,” he said.

“If they choose not to do that, we should expect that the next set of homelessness statistics will be worse yet again.”

Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan said the SNP’s housing emergency action plan, published earlier this month, “commits up to £4.9 billion over the next four years to deliver around 36,000 affordable homes as part of a major, affordable housebuilding programme.”