A record level of child homelessness this Christmas will become worse next year following the £200m budget cut to housing, a leading charity has warned.

Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland, gave the warning and told the Herald on Sunday anti-poverty groups will be appealing to the Scottish Government to reverse the massive reduction in spending on new affordable homes.

Organisations working in the sectors condemned the cut which emerged in official papers published as Shona Robison, the Deputy First Minister and finance secretary, outlined her tax and spending plans for next year to Holyrood last Tuesday.

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They revealed that the Scottish Government was proposing a reduction in spending to housing and building standards from £738m this year to £533m - or £205m - next year. It included a cut of almost £190m to housebuilding.

"This is something we are deeply deeply concerned about," said Ms Watson.

"Ministers can't shy away from the devastating consequences of the choices they have made this week. There is no getting away from it that the Scottish Government is choosing to let homelessness get far worse.

"We have seen a devastating increase in homelessness in the last 12 to 24 months. The latest figures to the end of March this year show that 9,595 children were in temporary accommodation and we understand the situation has continued to get worse since then.

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"That figure for March is the highest on record. Since 2014, there has been a 130% increase in children in temporary accommodation. We know that year on year this is a problem which is getting worse and worse. And as well as the number of children in temporary accommodation the length of time they are spending there is getting longer."

Ms Watson said 1910 children had now been in temporary accommodation for more than a year with even longer stays affecting families in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Temporary accommodation can range from furnished flats to hotel accommodation with councils prioritising the former for young families.

However, Ms Watson said that local authorities were struggling to find sufficient flats for people affected by homelessness and as a result more families were being accommodated in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotel rooms without any cooking facilities, sometimes for months.

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She said her organisation recently came across one couple with three children who were being put up in one room a Travelodge without any cooking facilities.

"At a time when we are seeing record levels of homelessness, record levels of children in particular stuck in temporary accommodation, it's a devastating blow to hear that the thing that needs to be in place to deal with that terrible problem - more social homes - is going to be cut so harshly," she said.

Ms Watson said in January Ms Robison was responsible for housing and told parliament that tackling homelessness, ending rough sleeping and transform temporary accommodation was a national priority for the Scottish Government.

"Clearly she has changed her mind, clearly that is no longer the case," she said.

"Like other organisations Shelter Scotland recognise the Scottish Government is in a difficult situation. They are fiscally challenged in a way they have never been before but politics is about choices.

"And this budget at the end of the day is a proactive choice on the part of the Scottish Government to allow homelessness to rise and to allow more children to be stuck in miserable temporary accommodation for longer and longer periods of time. It feels for us at Shelter Scotland that rising homelessness is a price ministers are willing to pay."

She added: "Along with a number of other organisations which share our concerns such as the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland. There have been a range of voices and together we will be doing everything we can to try and convince ministers to change their minds."

Ms Watson said underfunding of social housing over decades was the underlying cause of homelessness with the problem made worse by the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

Earlier this month it emerged that in Edinburgh, the average wait for families to find permanent accommodation is 611 days - the highest in Scotland - while in Glasgow the average wait is 381 days.

Responding to the budget last week, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFH) said the cut to the affordable housebuilding programme will have ‘devastating’ consequences and warned that the Scottish Government’s target of building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 would be missed as a result.

The first parliamentary vote is expected on the budget bill in February.

It is expected that the plans will pass because of the parliamentary majority for the SNP and the Scottish Greens despite concerns among some SNP MSPs regarding proposals to raise taxes for higher earners.

They fear the move could put off people moving to Scotland and impede economic growth, a crucial factor in raising more revenue for public services.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “Scotland has the strongest rights across the UK nations for people experiencing homelessness, and anyone threatened with or experiencing homelessness is entitled to advice and accommodation if they need it.

“We are committed to reducing the number of households with children in temporary accommodation, which is why we are investing at least £60m in 2023-24 to support a national acquisition plan.

“Increasing housing supply is key to reducing the pressure on temporary accommodation. We will invest £556 million in affordable homes across Scotland next year and continue to work with partners to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including supporting acquisitions of existing properties.”