Housing associations and co-operatives across Scotland have shown an overwhelming act of solidarity and humanity as they pledge up to 350 homes for vulnerable families being relocated to the UK as part of the Vulnerable Person Relocation (VPR) scheme run by the UK Government.
A cross-sector response co-ordinated by the ‘Scottish RSL Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis’[1] has resulted in housing associations and co-operatives across Scotland offering up to 350 homes to help local authorities to respond to the Syrian Refugee Crisis.
With the aim of helping local authority partners identify relevant homes for families relocating to Scotland as part of the VPR scheme, Positive Action in Housing[2] asked housing associations to pledge how many properties they could potential allocate to families through the VPR scheme, resulting in a collective offer of up to 350 homes. This will help local authorities to match homes with the families they are helping through the VPR scheme.
Jim Strang, chair of the Scottish RSL Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis and CEO of Parkhead HA[3] commented: “I’m more than delighted that we as a sector we can hold our heads up high, when people were in the middle of a humanitarian crises, we stepped up to the plate.”
Mary Taylor, CEO at Scottish Federation of Housing Associations said: “Scotland’s housing sector has a long history of helping people on housing need, and the fantastic response from the housing associations and co-operatives from Scotland reinforces the humanitarian ethos that underpins the housing association movement in Scotland.”
[1] The Scottish RSL Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis was a collaborative response group set up by Positive Action in Housing, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Glasgow and Wes of Scotland Forum to co-ordinate a sector wide response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis. It is chaired by James Strang of Parkhead Housing Association.
[2] Positive Action in Housing is an independent homelessness and human rights charity dedicated to supporting people from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
[3] Parkhead HA is a Registered Social Landlord operating in the East End of Glasgow with over 1,600 units and offers factoring services to 400 owners.
