Scotland's housing regulator has pressed for a rise in the building of new homes as part of a "systemic intervention" to end Scotland's homelessness crisis.
It has warned that landlords are retreating from construction as Scotland falls "woefully" behind in a pledge to deliver affordable homes in the housing emergency.
Campaigners have, meanwhile, begun legal action to stop councils illegally denying homeless people their human right to some kind of roof over their heads as the number of breaches across Scotland has quadrupled over five years.
According to council returns, Scots local authorities have breached their legal duty to provide shelter to the homeless 30,595 times in the past five years - with violations soaring from 4,595 in the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20 to 16,485 in 2024/25.
Summer analysis showed that the number of affordable homes approved for taxpayer cash backing dropped to its lowest level for 12 years with just 4755 new homes begun in 2024/25 - despite ministers declaring a housing emergency in mid-May last year.
Delivery of the Scottish Government -backed Affordable Housing Supply Programme was began in March 2022 with a fanfare fronted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon which stated that of 110,000 homes promised by 2032, 77,700 would be for social rent - aimed at low income families.
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But since then, official data shows there have been 28,537 affordable homes delivered - nearly 10,000 short of what was needed to be on target to deliver on the pledge.
To meet its pledge over the building of social homes for rent, the Scottish Government would have had to oversee the delivery of 23,692 homes, but ministers were around 2,800 short of what was needed to be on target.
The Scottish Government-funded regulator, which is directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament, has highlighted in an annual review a slowdown in the number of new homes being built by social landlords amidst a "systemic failure" that is affecting the homeless.
"We are clear that the continuing systemic failure that impacts on local authorities’ ability to meet legal duties on homelessness requires a systemic intervention," said the regulator which has said any remedy goes beyond what it was set up to deliver.
"Over the longer term this is about reducing demands on the system by preventing homelessness and increasing the capacity by building new homes. "However, we see many landlords scaling back on plans to build new homes due to limited funding, supply chain issues, higher costs and labour shortages. There is an immediate need now to increase capacity in the system to meet the current level of need, particularly for suitable temporary accommodation and permanent homes."
According to a regulator assessment, social landlords forecast building or buying 22,600 homes over the five-year period to March 2029. That is 13% down on the total forecast figure of 26,082 in the 2023 five-year financial projections, which itself was down by 17% on the previous year. It says that landlords are operating in a "highly challenging" environment shaped by the declaration of the national housing emergency by the Scottish Government in May, 2024 and "constrained" grant funding and inflation pressures.
The Scottish Tenants' Organisation has spent thousands in launching legal action against Glasgow City Council, as the city is responsible for three in four of the nation's law breaches in a move that it is hoped will be a "wake up call" to all local authorities.
The number of breaches in Glasgow has quadrupled since it was the subject of legal action by Shelter Scotland five years ago over "disregarding the law with impunity" before the housing regulator stepped in.
It said that systemic intervention "has to take the form of a massive increase in the affordable housing budget in Scotland" and said thousands of empty homes have to be renovated and retrofitted to "house all those many thousands that are homeless and on social housing waiting lists".
"We need a housing revolution now and anything else is homelessness by design and accepting mass destitution and penury in Scotland," they said.
Nearly half of Scotland’s councils are currently under the scrutiny of the housing watchdog amid a surge in law-breaking failures over providing shelter for the homeless.
The government-funded Scottish Housing Regulator has confirmed that 10 out of the nation's 32 councils are either suffering systemic failure in the services provided to people who are homeless or at heightened risk of it, exposing thousands of vulnerable people to potential harm.
A further six are under the microscope over their legal obligation to offer temporary accommodation when they assess a person or household as unintentionally homeless.
The regulator has been having discussions for a second year with Edinburgh and Glasgow which it says are suffering systemic failure, both of which have declared a symbolic housing emergency. Fife, which declared its own housing emergency in March, last year has been added to that list.
It is further assessing seven other councils that they say were at heightened risk of systemic failure in this financial year - Aberdeen City, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, and West Lothian.
And six further councils - Falkirk , Highland, Midlothian, Orkney, South Lanarkshire and Stirling - are among 14 that are under assessment over compliance with its legal duties to offer emergency accommodation to the homeless when it is needed as well as the quality of those homes, and how long people spend there waiting on a settled home.
Some campaigners had been calling for financial penalties to be imposed on councils that break the law, to ensure that the homeless are given at least temporary accommodation.
It took Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan 16 months to unveil an emergency plan to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis. Announced in September, it included a £4.9 billion pledge to boost affordable housing — but experts warn it still falls £1.7bn short of what’s needed to meet demand.
Housing secretary Màiri McAllan said: “We have a strong track record in affordable housing, having delivered more than 140,000 affordable homes since 2007, with over 100,000 of these for social rent. This work, and our scrapping of Right to Buy in 2016 has contributed to Scotland proportionately having 47% more affordable homes than England and 73% more than Wales.
“Our Housing Emergency Action Plan, which I published in September, ensures that £808 million will be available for affordable homes in Scotland this year alone – including £80 million targeted at immediate acquisitions and to support the delivery of 8,000 affordable homes. This plan also sets out a commitment of up to £4.9 billion over the next four years as part of a significant uptick in funding and certainty which will help deliver up to 36,000 affordable homes.
“Despite significant pressures – including the cost of materials being some 40% higher in 2025 than 2020 – we are absolutely committed to continuing our strong track record of delivery and have plans in place to do this."
