Council and housing association homes are predicted to drop

More than a quarter of Scottish households are currently in the socially-rented sector.

A report from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) in Scotland warned that this could fall to just 8% in 14 years time.

The Scottish Executive said it was committed to meeting the challenges.

The authors of the report found that more people now preferred owner-occupation.

Most people living in such properties will be young single adults and those who require some form of support, it said.

The CIH said this represented a major change from the days when more than half of households in Scotland lived in social housing.

Most people now have a preference for owner-occupation and social rented housing is feeling the effects of that John Mills Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland

But the body warned that with most people now opting to buy their own home, social housing increasingly catered for those with particular needs or the poor.

The report on the future of social renting in Scotland is being launched in Edinburgh.

John Mills, the chair of the CIH in Scotland, said: "The report sounds a number of warnings, some of which are bleak, and highlights a number of challenges for the future."

He added he hoped it would be a "wake-up call" to bring ministers and the housing sector together to look at what could be done for the future.

Mr Mills said: "At its height social rented housing in Scotland housed more than half of Scottish households so this new report makes for sober reading.

There are challenges ahead but we are certainly committed to playing our part in meeting them Scottish Executive spokeswoman

"Social rented housing is now largely perceived to be only for people in the greatest housing need.

"Most people now have a preference for owner-occupation and social rented housing is feeling the effects of that."

An executive spokeswoman welcomed the research and said all providers of social housing should study it in detail.

She said the executive was investing almost �500m in affordable housing this year, including the creation of more than 7,000 homes which were mostly for rent.