According to Shelter Scotland, 10,480 children are currently living in temporary accommodation, and the charity is now urging that tackling affordable housing demand be at the centre of the new agency.

New research from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), commissioned by Shelter Scotland, highlights the opportunity for More Homes Scotland to boost housing delivery and increase affordable housing, while emphasising the need for clarity about the agency’s measures of success, objectives and direction of focus. 

The report identifies a key question for policymakers: Is the agency’s main aim to reduce affordable housing need or increase housing supply within all tenures. The authors stress that they would focus on addressing the housing emergency’s lack of affordable delivery.

According to data, Scotland needs at least 15,693 affordable homes per annum to begin alleviating housing demand. A positive outcome can be judged by less people facing homelessness and less children being without a home. 

The charity has said delivering the social homes needed should be a national priority shared across government, local authorities as well as the housing sector.

Key figures from the housing sector will be present at a sold-out event on 22 July to look into how the new agency can address affordable housing need and the housing crisis. 

Professor Kenneth Gibb, director of CaCHE and lead author of the report, said: “There is strong support across the housing sector for the principle of More Homes Scotland, but our research found that important decisions remain to be made about its purpose, powers and priorities.

“The agency needs a clear mission, strong partnerships and the ability to tackle barriers relating to land, infrastructure, planning and investment. Only then can it make a meaningful contribution to housing delivery and addressing affordable housing need.”

Shelter Scotland interim director Gordon Llewellyn-MacRae said: “Every year we fail to build enough social homes; more people are pushed into homelessness. For many, that can mean years without the stability of a permanent home and real harm to children’s wellbeing, education and future opportunities. The longer we wait, the harder it becomes to reverse that damage.

“The housing emergency is not inevitable. It is the result of decades of underinvestment and failing to build enough of the homes people need, where they need them. Building the social homes Scotland needs must now become a national mission.

“More Homes Scotland has the opportunity to help change that trajectory. The test for the new agency is clear: does it help more people find a safe, secure and affordable home? To get those children out of temporary accommodation, we need more homes, more quickly. With the right funding, powers and focus, More Homes Scotland can help deliver the homes Scotland desperately needs.”