More than one million young couples are putting off parenthood because they cannot get onto the property ladder.

A survey by Shelter Scotland found that one in five couples aged between 31 and 44, a figure equivalent to 1.1 million UK-wide, have delayed starting a family because of a lack of affordable housing.

The homelessness charity says the figure highlights how the lack of safe, affordable social housing is having an impact at every level of society.

Of these 31 to 44-year-olds, the study found 26% had already put off having children for five years or more.

The figures are 63% higher than three years ago, when the charity last looked at the issue.

Among the 18-30 age group, one in four respondents, equivalent to 1.4 million UK-wide, told Shelter's Life Stages survey the issue had caused them to delay family life.

Gordon MacRae, head of communications and policy at Shelter Scotland, said: "The lack of secure and affordable housing in Scotland is having an impact at every level of society.

"Sadly, an increasing number of people are finding that, despite working hard and saving hard, they're still priced out of a secure and affordable home, trapped in private rented housing where landlords can evict them with little notice or raise the rent at any time.

"We know that many simply don't think this is a stable environment to raise a family.

"The Scottish Government has a responsibility to act now to ensure that today's young people and the generation after them are not denied something as basic as the right to a family life with a safe, affordable and secure home to raise their children in."

Shelter's survey blamed the trend on a lack of social housing, high house prices and the large deposits required by lenders for the growing number of people being unable to buy.

Recent figures show that one in three first-time buyers is now over the age of 37, compared to an average age of 23 for those who bought their first home in the early 1960s.

Meanwhile, 272,653 families and individuals in Scotland are now in the private rented sector. By 2020, one in five UK households is expected to rent privately.

Zoe Workman, 29, and her husband Robert, 32, said they finally had their first baby, Amelia, six months ago after delaying parenthood for years due to fears over the insecurity and expense of rented accommodation.

Mrs Workman, of Perth, said: "It was probably more of a case of stability for her. I didn't want to keep moving. I wanted her to grow up with friends in the same area that she was going to go to school with. I wanted her to have her own room.

"But unfortunately, when you start to get to 29, 30, for me to have my first and be able to have my second in a reasonable amount of time, you start thinking you can't afford to wait any longer."

The couple, who are both customer service agents for an energy company, face monthly rental costs of up to £650.

They are trying to save for a deposit on a house through their company's share-saving scheme, but Mrs Workman admits the costs of daily living and looking after a baby make it difficult.

The Herald reported yesterday how home-buyers in Scotland are spending less of their disposable income paying their mortgage than anywhere else in the UK.

The Bank of Scotland Affordability Review found that homeowners north of the Border can expect to spend an average of 20% of their disposable income on a mortgage, compared with 35% in London, 24% in the north of England and 25% in Wales.

However, the picture varied considerably across different areas of Scotland. Aberdeenshire and Perth and Kinross emerged as the least affordable places to buy a home, with new mortgages accounting for 25.7% and 25.2% of average local disposable earnings.