South Lanarkshire Council has declared a housing emergency after seeing soaring numbers of people needing assistance due to homelessness - including a doubling of the backlog of "urgent need" households needing accommodation.The authority is now calling for funding from the Scottish and UK governments to reverse cuts to the affordable housing supply programme budget to ensure the council can deliver its planned 1300 new homes, as well as further assistance to manage "out of area" homelessness presentations and "need arising from humanitarian and asylum programmes".Housing committee chair Davie McLachlan, who brought the motion to this week's council meeting, called the declaration "a plea for help" amid "rocketing levels of homelessness" and said: "There are real human consequences to the housing crisis."The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.
Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android South Lanarkshire now becomes the eighth local authority in Scotland to declare a housing emergency, with councillors unanimously noting that the area has seen a 38 per cent rise in the number of people recorded by the council as homeless and a 28 per cent increase in the number of people applying for assistance.Members asked both governments to take action and provide increased support, agreeing that while South Lanarkshire "remains a top-performing local