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Communities Secretary Angela Constance welcomes the announcement of the £5m Island Housing Fund.

Ms Constance reminds the Tories it was the UK government that cut Scotland's capital budget to 26%.

She says her government has also had to mitigate the impact of the Bedroom Tax.

The communities secretary highlights the 50,000 new homes target the government has set. 

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Conservative MSP Annie Wells says the shortage of housing across all sectors is concerning for all, but particularly the younger generation.

Ms Wells says there needs to be real action from the Scottish government

She says the Scottish government failed in its manifesto pledge from 2011 which said more than 6,000 socially rented houses would be built a year.

Ms Wells calls for 100,000 homes over the next five years. 

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Labour MSP Alex Rowley calls for a national housing strategy.

Mr Rowley says there is a housing crisis and there must be more public housing in Scotland.

He welcomes Shelter Scotland's campaign Homelessnesss, Far From Fixed, external.

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Confidence has returned to the Scottish housing market following the Brexit vote, according to a survey.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that 17% more surveyors in Scotland reported an increase in house prices.

That was up from +8% in July, when there was a drop in activity and price expectations across the UK.

The Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC) also reported a year-on-year rise in house prices.

It said the average selling price of homes in east central Scotland has increased 6.2% over the last three months.

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton welcomes the Islands Housing Fund.

Mr Cole-Hamilton calls for a homelessness national strategy.

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The Lib Dem MSP encourages the government to go even further, building 10,000 houses each year must not be the limit of its ambition.

According to Shelter's latest report 5,000 children remain in temporary accommodation, he says.

Work is set to begin on a new affordable housing development which will transform a derelict brownfield site in Edinburgh.

The Shrubhill project will see 236 affordable homes built in the north of the capital, part of a plan to build 374 homes in Shrubhill on Leith Walk.

The city council is supporting the development with almost £28m of grant and loan funding.

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Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said it would "regenerate an iconic site".

During a visit to the site, he said: "This government is committed to delivering 50,000 more affordable homes over the next five years.

Green MSP Andy Wightman says it is time for the Scottish government to intervene more in housing policy.

The Green amendment for today's debate - not selected by the Presiding Officer - highlighted the fact that land values rise when infrastructure is built or planning permission is given, and by capturing this value, more and better homes can be built.

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Mr Wightman says a major effort is required to bring existing housing up to modern standards.

He says there needs to be a transformed approach to housing.

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The Scottish government has said it has achieved its "ambitious" pledge to build 30,000 affordable homes.

However, the Scottish Lib Dems claimed an original target, made in the SNP's 2011 manifesto, had not been fulfilled.

They say the promise changed from 30,000 "socially rented homes" to 30,000 "affordable homes with at least two-thirds designated for social rent".

In the past five years, 33,490 affordable houses have been built, with 22,523 of those for social rent.

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Maurice Corry says the SNP failure on house building means there are over 5,000 children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland.

Mr Corry says that is why his party pledged to build 100,000 new homes over the course of the parliament with at least half being social housing.

He says the SNP's top down approach to planning permission is wrong.

The Tory MSP calls for more use to made of unoccupied homes, with disabled servicemen and women being the priority.

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SNP MSP Kate Forbes welcomes the £25m Rural Housing Fund.

The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch says on her travels one of the greatest needs for rural Scotland is housing.

Ms Forbes says housing stock for her constituents is about safety, security, health, children in schools and businesses growing.

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Labour MSP Richard Leonard says there must be a long term plan for social housing.

Mr Leonard says: "If you want the confidence of the people you must have confidence in the people."

The Labour MSP says decisions on housing must be returned to local government.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart announced the Scottish government will establish a new Islands Housing Fund - backed by up to £5 million funding over three years - to increase the availability of affordable housing in the islands.

Mr Stewart says this investment is in addition to the £25 million Rural Housing Fund which is supporting the building of new homes and refurbishment of existing properties in rural areas.

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The minister said: “Our new £5 million Island Housing Fund will increase the supply of good quality affordable housing which is an essential part of attracting and retaining people in our islands.

“Investment in this support for the islands and through the Rural Housing Fund will help us deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over the lifetime of this Parliament and ensure we are reaching across all of Scotland in our ambitions."

Fewer houses are being built in Scotland than there used to be.

Builders, property firms and politicians say this is driving up prices, making things hard for both renters and first-time buyers and leaving tens of thousands of people on council waiting lists for a home.

Throughout the first nine years of the Scottish Parliament, more than 24,000 houses were built in Scotland every year.

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But the figures started to slip from 2007/08, the beginning of a slide which left new builds under 15,000 by 2012/13.

There is some evidence of the market beginning to rally slightly in recent years, but with the independent Commission on Housing and Wellbeing, external recommending in 2015 that 23,000 new houses be built annually, the figures are still some way from meeting targets.

Labour MSP Pauline McNeill speaks for her party in this housing debate.

Ms McNeill says everyone agrees there is an acute need for new houses.

The Labour MSP says Shelter says 30,000 people are classed as being homeless.

Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone proposed his amendment to the motion. 

He says that much of what is in the minister's speech will find favour with the Tories. There is common ground, he adds.

However, he questions whether the SNP has met it's social housing target so far.

Mr Stewart says the government has set an ambitious target - 50,000 affordable homes, 35,000 of which are for social rent.

He added that the housing sector could work for all if the system was made better.

The MSP was pleased that the revamped stamp duty system had helped buyers save money and the law on right-to-buy had been abandoned.

Mr Stewart believed success could only come "if we all work together"

He added: "I look to work further to transform our ambition and make it reality." 

SNP minister Kevin Stewart tells the chamber that much has been done already, but there are still challenges ahead.

"We have to make the housing system work for people," he says.

He says he has visited affordable homes' projects which are working well.