Scottish Ministers have been blasted after the level of homelessness applications reached an all-time high.
The number of children living in temporary accommodation also rose to nearly 10,000.
Matt Downie, chief executive of the charity Crisis, said: “The Scottish homelessness system is bursting at the seams. The pandemic saw extraordinary progress in tackling rough sleeping, but, as these figures show, Scotland is now returning to the long term trend of ever growing numbers of people needing assistance.
“The fact there are now nearly 10,000 children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland should shame us all. They are being robbed of a childhood, when their homelessness could have been prevented. This is an injustice.”
The stats, released by the SNP/Green Government, show the number of “open cases” by the end of September had surged to 28,944.
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This was a year-on-year increase of 11 per cent and the highest since records began in 2002.
There were 14,458 households and 9,130 children in temporary accommodation at the same point this year.
The figure for children amounted to a 10 per cent rise compared to the previous year.
Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said: “This SNP/Green Government should be ashamed of today's figures. We need immediate action to bring down these devastating numbers.
“It is a basic responsibility to ensure every person has a place to call home and most of us take for granted that we will be comfortable and secure with a roof over our heads.
“For many Scots, this is not the case and with looming cuts to council budgets, it is hard to see how these figures will be reduced.
Citizens Advice Scotland spokesperson Aoife Deery said: “This is the horrifying impact of the cost of living crisis and the housing emergency. There is a serious risk these figures are the tip of the iceberg, as people can’t keep up with essential spending.
“Across the Citizens Advice network we have seen that advice on actual homelessness has been growing as a proportion of housing advice for the past few months. In fact homelessness advice in December 2022 was up 34% from December 2021 as a proportion of all homelessness advice.
“We have also seen growing demand for online advice about rent increases, despite rent freeze legislation, and huge demand for online advice around mortgages."
Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: “These statistics are unacceptable and concerning.
“The number of households, and particularly children, in temporary accommodation in some council areas is too high and we are firmly committed to reducing it.
“That is why we commissioned an action plan from experts in the sector to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation and the length of time spent there and the recommendations are expected shortly.”
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