The Scottish Government will face a vote on its "catastrophic" housing record as pressure grows on housing minister Paul McLennan.

First Minister John Swinney defended Mr McLennan at First Minister's Questions last week, echoing the housing minister's remarks that the Scottish Government had a "strong track" record on housing building.

However, Scottish Labour will now use a Holyrood debate on Wednesday to accuse ministers of "fuelling" the housing crisis.

The Scottish Government, along with 12 local authorities, declared a housing emergency earlier this year.

Labour's vote will be non-binding but heightens the pressure facing the housing minister after homelessness figures published last week reached record highs.

Official statistics showed there were 40,685 homelessness applications in 2023-24, up 4% on the previous year and the highest level since 2011-12.

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Meanwhile, there were 31,870 live applications as of March this year - the highest on record.

And 10,110 children were in temporary accommodation, increasing from 9,595 the previous year.

The Holyrood vote comes after The Herald revealed seven of Scotland's 32 local authorities built no new homes last year.

Scottish Labour is set to use the allocated opposition debating time in the Scottish Parliament to highlight the "abject failure" of Scottish ministers.

Mark Griffin, Scottish Labour's housing spokesman, said: “The SNP’s record on housing is one of abject failure, and the most vulnerable people in Scotland are paying the price.

“Thousands of children don’t have a permanent home and hundreds are stuck in limbo living in BnBs.

“The SNP has admitted there is a housing emergency, but its actions have only fuelled this crisis.

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“While thousands of Scots were suffering as a result of this housing emergency, the SNP slashed the affordable housing budget and let housebuilding collapse.

“The SNP has decided to defend the indefensible and protect its failing housing minister – but Scottish Labour will hold this government to account for its failings.

“This Wednesday, Parliament has an opportunity to force the SNP to take responsibility for its catastrophic record on housing.”

The housing minister first faced calls to resign during FMQs on Thursday, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accusing Mr McLennan of being "out of touch" with the housing crisis.

Mr McLennan said the Scottish Government has been decisive action on homelessness, with 133,000 homes completed since 2007.

In an interview with The Herald last week, Mr McLennan denied the Scottish Government was making excuses on the scale of the crisis.

He said the Scottish Government built 19,000 homes, 40% more per head of population than England and 70% more than Wales, this year.

"But we need to be doing more," he said. "Of course we need to be doing more."

Last week, quarterly housing statistics were also published by the Scottish Government, showing a 17% decrease in all sector housebuilding starts and completions between 2023 and 2024.

Excluding 2020, when housebuilding was affected by Covid, new houses built were at their lowest since June 2018 and the number of new builds  started were at the lowest level since 2013.

The Scottish Government has a target to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, but the figures showed the figure was down 14% in the latest figures, with 10% fewer started.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Since 2007, we have supported the delivery of more than 133,000 affordable homes, with more than 94,000 of those being for social rent, 40% more affordable homes per head of population than in England and 70% more than in Wales. We continue to build on that record with almost £600 million of investment in the Affordable Housing Supply programme (AHSP) this year and we remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

“To support the local authorities experiencing the highest pressure, £40 million of our AHSP investment will be used to purchase existing homes and bring long term empty homes back into use.

“We continue to do everything we can to improve the supply of affordable housing - but truly tackling the housing emergency requires a joint approach between UK, Scottish and local government and housing providers."