Homeless applications in Glasgow have increased to the highest level in almost a decade.

The latest figures show almost 7000 applications to the city council in 2021/22, up by 578 from the year before.

Hundreds of those who stated they were homeless to the authority had experienced rough sleeping.

READ MORE: Hundreds of people 'trapped in unsuitable' homeless accommodation in Glasgow

Homeless applications have been increasing every year in the city since 2017/18 when there were 5248 cases.

The increase comes after a fall over a number of years from 2002/03 when more than 13,000 applications were made.

The council said the recent rise is related to the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

The number includes 355 people who said they had slept rough after becoming homeless.  

While most were single people, there were thousands of children included in the number with Glasgow reporting there had been 2591 children associated with homeless applications.

Housing charities said more preventative measures are needed to stop people from becoming homeless.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “The best way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

“By offering people support earlier, and by widening responsibility for preventing homelessness, we can start to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation and make sure everyone has a safe and secure place to call home.” 

READ MORE:Glasgow council owed £4m as homeless temporary accommodation increases

A spokesperson for Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership said: “Our homeless services has and continues to work extremely hard with partners to prevent homelessness in Glasgow.

"The city established the Glasgow Alliance to End Homelessness with third sector partners, combined with a reconfiguration of investment in the housing first model - providing tenancies and intensive wrap-around support for people with the most complex needs.

“However, the increase in homelessness applications over the last two years is very much a result of the economic and social impact of the public health emergency.

“Throughout this period the HSCP has increased investment in homelessness prevention activity to help people avoid homelessness.

"Through the Tenant (Covid-19) Hardship Fund, we have been able to assist 1046 households avoid homelessness by working with landlords to ensure that those most at risk of eviction were able to access support through the grant fund scheme.

 “The work to help people avoid homelessness continues and so far this year we have seen a decrease in the number of homeless applications.”

Scottish Government housing secretary Shona Robison said: “These statistics remind us why our commitment to prevent and end homelessness is so important, and show us that we still have work to do.”