Lanarkshire Tory MSP Graham Simpson has blasted the "shameful" number of children on the social housing waiting list across Lanarkshire.
Over 13,000 children in Lanarkshire are currently on the list according to information obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.
Freedom of information requests submitted by the party to each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have revealed that at least 95,293 children in Scotland are on waiting lists for council housing right now.
And the MSP says the true figure may be even higher as three councils were unable to return complete data.
Mr Simpson told Lanarkshire Live : “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 30,541 households waiting for social rented accommodation in Lanarkshire – and more than 13,000 children.
“The SNP have consistently failed to build enough new social rented homes throughout their time in power."
Approximately 183,000 households and over 230,000 adults across Scotland are also on waiting lists for social rented accommodation.
In North Lanarkshire 12,070 families are currently waiting, which includes 8414 children, whilst in South Lanarkshire the figure is 18,471 and 4806 children.
Mr Simpson, the Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, called the figures "shocking and shameful," and blamed the SNP for failing to meet their housebuilding targets for the current crisis.
In 2016, the SNP promised to build 50,000 affordable homes over the next five years.
Their 2016 manifesto stated ‘Over the next parliament, we will invest £3bn to build at least 50,000 more affordable homes. 35,000 of these will be in the social rented sector’.
Figures show 41,364 affordable homes were completed from April 2016 to March 2021.
The Scottish Conservatives have pledged to support increased housebuilding in their local election manifesto and have said 25,000 new homes must be built each year, with a specific focus on the affordable and social-rented sectors, in order to tackle this growing problem.
Their council candidates have also promised to work to increase their local authority’s stock of council housing if elected.
Mr Simpson added: "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 across the region 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.”
In response, SNP MSP Kaukab Stewart said: “It is hard to believe a word the Tories say when it comes to affordable homes.
“This is the party who sold off our council houses, who are lagging far behind Scotland in delivery of homes in England, and whose targets lack the ambition people across Scotland need.
“In stark contrast, the SNP has a clear record on delivering homes. Since 2007, we have been leading the way in the creation of affordable homes - delivering 96,750 affordable homes, nearly 67,000 of which were for social rent.
“In the four years to 2021, over nine times more social rented homes per head of population than England.”
Daniel Lowe, executive director of housing and technical Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said there were high levels of demand for social rented housing, with 17,407 applicants currently on the Common Housing register.
He added: “The council is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing in South Lanarkshire to improve its ability to meet the needs of those on the housing register, and has delivered more than 1000 units over the past five years.”
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