The social enterprise hopes to raise £500,000 by Christmas to build 10 purpose-built homes in Granton by next summer, which will house up to 20 homeless people at a time.

The cost of maintaining the properties will be funded through housing benefit payments.

Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite, said the scheme would create savings for the council, which currently pays for temporary accommodation in hostels and bed and breakfasts.

He told The Herald: “At present councils such as Edinburgh are paying tens of millions of pounds for this. We aim to do this without charging the council anything at all.”

Councillor Joan Griffiths, vice convenor of City of Edinburgh Council, added: “Josh and the Social Bite team do so much good work for homeless people across the city already and we look forward to working with them on their plans.”