THE number of homeless applications in Scotland has risen for the first time in eight years.

Official statistics showed 35,000 people presented as homeless to councils in 2016/17, a one per rise on the previous year, with a 9 per cent jump in children in temporary accommodation.

Shelter Scotland described the rises as “shocking” and said they were evidence of the good progress in recent years on homelessness “now being reversed”.

The rise followed eight consecutive annual falls in applications, leading Scottish Government officials to conclude the "housing options" service which has helped councils with applications since 2010 had effectively reached its limits.

They said: “In its current form, the impact of housing options work is unlikely to lead to further large reductions in applications beyond those already seen.”

The Homelessness in Scotland statistics showed councils received 34,972 applications between April 2017 and March 2018.

As at 31 March, there were 10,933 households in temporary accommodations such as bed and breakfasts, 3349 of which had children, an increase of 118 households with children.

The total number of children in temporary accommodation rose by 557, or 9 per cent, to 6615 last year, the fourth year in a row there has been an increase.

A total of 2,582 households were in temporary accommodation for a year or longer.

There were also 400 occasions when councils broke the law by housing someone in inappropriate accommodation for more than a week, 280 of them in Edinburgh.

Shelter Scotland director Graeme Brown said: “These statistics are shocking and should start alarm bells ringing in Holyrood that homelessness in Scotland is getting worse not better. Every 18 minutes a household was made homeless in Scotland last year with 34,972 homelessness applications – more than last year.

"People are having to stay longer in temporary accommodation with their lives in limbo.

"This is clear evidence that the good progress we have seen in recent years is now being reversed and bad housing and homelessness is blighting the lives of even more people in Scotland – robbing them of their health, security and a fair chance in life."

Scottish Labour said the figures amounted to a “day of shame” for the SNP government.

MSP Pauline McNeill MSP said: “These figures are truly shocking. Having just one person homeless in 21st century Scotland is unacceptable – but to see homelessness on the rise once again is a scandal.

“It is clear the SNP government simply is not taking Scotland’s homelessness crisis seriously and SNP ministers should be ashamed by these figures.”

The LibDems said the rise in children in temporary accommodation was “heartbreaking”.

MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The SNP Government can't ignore the fact that the number of children in temporary accommodation has increased 59 per cent since 2014.

“On any given day, there are now around 2,500 more children lacking the stability of a home to call their own. That can have a real impact on a child's development.

"The Scottish Government needs to build more homes for social rent and help bring the thousands of long-term vacant properties back into use through a new help to renovate loan. “The Conservatives also need to reform their social security policies which are putting people at greater risk of homelessness, starting with the botched roll out of Universal Credit.”

Green MSP Andy Wightman accused ministers of failing to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis.

He said: “It's not the priority it should be, and we have more families and more children in temporary accommodation, causing distress that will affect them throughout their lives.

"Scottish Ministers are far too cautious when it comes to taking radical action.

“We need bold measures that reduce the cost of land for councils to build the homes needed in our communities and we need strong action to stop the scourge of short-term lets and second homes depriving our cities, towns and villages of badly-needed long-term homes.”

“Scottish Ministers' steady-as-we-go approach will simply not do."

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said the long-term trend showed a 39 per cent fall in the number of homeless applications between 2008/9 and 2017/18, but admitted the new figures were a reminder of why preventing homelessness remained a key priority.

He said: “We want time spent in unsuitable temporary accommodation to be as short as possible, especially for households with children or where there is a pregnancy.

“This is why we introduced a cap of one week for families and pregnant women living in B&B accommodation. We also need temporary accommodation to be of a high standard.”

He said there was now a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group to tackle the issue, alongside a £50 million Ending Homelessness Together Fund, plus government plans to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over the course of this Parliament.