The Scottish Conservatives have called for 100,000 new homes to be built over the course of the next parliament.

Leader Ruth Davidson said that expanding home ownership is a "cornerstone" of her party's campaign ahead of the Holyrood elections.

Its manifesto will urge the Scottish Government to boost house building by 10% year-on-year, from just over 16,000 to more than 26,000 by 2021.

This would lead to 109,000 new properties in Scotland by the end of 2021, the party said.

The Scottish Conservatives say reforms to planning legislation and more government support for transport links and broadband are needed to encourage house building.

Ms Davidson said: "Owning your own home shouldn't be the preserve of the rich, or only for those who can tap the Bank of Mum and Dad.

"Owning your own home should be within the reach of everyone who works hard and does the right thing.

"That is at the cornerstone of our beliefs.

"The UK Government has shown real ambition in setting a target of one million new homes by 2020. We now need to hear a similar sense of ambition from the SNP.

"And the Scottish Conservatives are going to demand they show it."

Ms Davidson was speaking in Aberdeen, where estimates suggest that an extra 55,000 homes will be needed by 2030 to cope with demand in the north east.

She added: "Our manifesto will include a very clear call - to get Scotland building houses again.

"We will demand that the Scottish Government sets a clear goal - to ensure levels of house building in Scotland get back to the rates we saw before the financial crash.

"That means a target of 25,000 new homes built every year - over 100,000 new homes over the course of the parliament.

"This is something both the public and private sector should work to achieve - building homes of all types of tenure."

She continued: "As Homes for Scotland points out, 160,000 people are on waiting lists and thousands more are struggling to find a home.

"We need to act. With political will, we can do this. For the sake of the next generation, too many of whom have given up hope of ever getting a home of their own, it must be done."