Almost 100,000 children on social housing waiting lists, data from Scottish Conservatives reveals

Almost 100,000 children are on waiting lists for social housing in Scotland, according to data obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.

Freedom of information requests by the party to local authorities showed 95,293 children are on waiting lists for council housing.

Out of Scotland’s 32 councils, 29 provided complete data.

In 2020, the charity Shelter Scotland estimated 70,000 children were on waiting lists for social housing.

The data obtained shows 183,185 households are on waiting lists, with a total of 233,343 adults in this category.

Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said: “These shocking and shameful figures highlight the extent of the social housing crisis in Scotland right now.

“Years of missed SNP targets on council housebuilding have left 183,000 households waiting for social rented accommodation in Scotland – and almost 100,000 children.

“That’s 100,000 children left living in unstable accommodation due to the SNP’s negligence.

“The SNP have consistently failed to build enough new social rented homes throughout their time in power.

“With the cost-of-living crisis biting hard, many Scots on these waiting lists will be unable to continue paying for privately rented accommodation and there is a very real possibility of families and children becoming homeless as a result of these enormous waiting lists.

“This is nothing short of a scandal.

“The SNP must now urgently commit to the ambitious targets on housebuilding that the Scottish Conservatives have been demanding for years – and deliver the 25,000 homes we need each year to end this appalling crisis.”