Paul McLennan, the new housing minister in Humza Yousaf’s government, has his work cut out, to say the least. The lack of a dedicated housing minister in the last government was a glaring omission and represented a baffling deprioritisation of an issue that is propagating misery and suffering throughout Scotland.

For those of us in the housing sector, the campaign to replace Nicola Sturgeon was characterised by an eerie silence. Their refusal to speak out on housing during the campaign echoed John Swinney’s own reticence on the subject throughout the budget process as crippling cuts to the funding available for social housing were ushered through with barely a word.

This was an alarming state of affairs because the housing emergency is beyond critical now. It manifests in communities across the country. It can be seen in the record numbers of children, more than 9,000, without a permanent home. It is seen in the tens of thousands of open homeless applications placing an unbearable weight on council housing officers. How can it be anything less than an emergency when the Scottish Housing Regulator warns that our local homelessness services are on the brink of systemic failure?

That is the enormity of the situation that Paul McLennan has been charged with addressing. While his appointment will not, by itself, provide the solution it does at least mean that housing issues once again have a dedicated voice in the Scottish Government. We must hope that voice is used well and is heeded.

The advantage that Mr McLennan may have over some of his colleagues is that the solutions to the challenges he faces are known. Countless experts from across the sector have told ministers and officials repeatedly that investment in social housing is the only way to end homelessness. The final report from the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group reemphasises this point. Its number one priority was the delivery of 38,500 social homes by 2026. It urged the Scottish Government to introduce a large-scale national acquisition policy and action plan to buy private sector properties.

I was proud to co-chair that group alongside John Mills from the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, but the final recommendations do not come from us alone. They are backed up by a wealth of evidence, the insights of people with lived experience of homelessness, and the insight of the other group members from right across the housing sector.

Sometimes the business of politics can be complex. In this case, it is simple. Investing in social housing is the only way to end homelessness in Scotland. The Scottish Government can choose to do so, or it can choose not to do so.

The final budget of the Nicola Sturgeon era laid out the previous administration’s choices in stark detail. Will Humza Yousaf and his team choose a different path? The 9,130 children in Scotland without somewhere to call home, the families that care for them, and the thousands of people stuck in miserable and unsafe temporary accommodation, will certainly hope so.