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Scotland’s largest social landlord offers empty homes to homeless during coronavirus crisis
Wheatley Group is making roughly 300 empty homes available to local authorities as temporary accommodation for homeless people, as part of a raft of measures aimed at tackling the impact of coronavirus.
The 93,000-home landlord will offer properties to the four local authorities with which it has strategic agreements. These are Glasgow, Edinburgh, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.
Martin Armstrong, chief executive of Wheatley, said that the group – which includes Glasgow Housing Association, Dumfries & Galloway Housing Partnership, Dunedin Canmore, Cube, West Lothian Housing Partnership and Barony – estimates that up to 300 homes across Scotland could be handed over to councils over the next three months.
It comes as local authorities across the country scramble to find places for rough sleepers to self-isolate if they exhibit symptoms of coronavirus.
Over the weekend, London mayor Sadiq Khan block-booked hundreds of hotel rooms as part of a trial scheme to allow rough sleepers in the capital to quarantine themselves throughout the outbreak.
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Meanwhile, a homelessness shelter in Glasgow was forced to close on Friday after a staff member and a guest both tested positive for the disease.
James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, said: “In this time of emergency, everyone has a responsibility to do all they can to combat COVID-19. I’m delighted to see Glasgow Housing Association and Wheatley Group lead by example and hope this will now be replicated across the sector.”
Yesterday, Wheatley confirmed to Inside Housing that it is closing its building sites following comments by first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who said builders should not be going to work during the crisis.
The group’s 500 housing staff across Scotland are now working from home, while environmental staff continue to provide essential services, including fire safety patrols and multi-storey block cleaning.
Mr Armstrong said: “Our overriding priority is to ensure tenants and their families remain safe and secure in their homes while safeguarding the welfare and well-being of our staff.
“Our dedicated staff are doing a fantastic job in the most difficult of circumstances. As always, they have gone the extra mile in creating and adapting to a challenging working environment, helping us put in place a new service model that enables us to support tenants, their families and communities at a time of acute concern.”
