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Wheatley raises homeless allocation target by 1,000 properties
Wheatley Group has raised its homeless allocation target by 1,000 properties.
Scotland’s largest housing association had previously committed to providing 10,000 properties to homeless people by 2026, but the group said on Tuesday that it would increase this target by 10% to help local authorities and support agencies dealing with the housing emergency.
With a year of the strategy still to go, Wheatley said it had already housed 8,300 people.
The housing association, which owns and manages 64,000 homes across 19 local authorities in Scotland, currently offers 60% of all its new lets in the central belt each year to people experiencing homelessness.
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Wheatley has also turned nearly 400 temporary furnished homes into permanent residences and provided 395 homes to Housing First, a partnership aimed at tackling rough sleeping.
Steven Henderson, chief executive of Wheatley Group, said: “We have an important role in supporting the Scottish government and local authorities in tackling homelessness in this country.”
He said the announcement of a further 1,000 homes “outlines our commitment and determination to support people in greatest need in our communities and to play our part on a national level in tackling homelessness”.
Scotland’s housing minister Paul McLennan welcomed the move. He said: “I am pleased Wheatley Group are supporting our efforts to tackle homelessness and the housing emergency by committing to make available a further 1,000 affordable homes for homeless households by 2026.
“As Scotland’s largest social housing group, Wheatley Group has an important role to play in our combined efforts to ensure that everyone in Scotland has a safe, warm and affordable home that meets their needs.
“We are investing almost £600m this financial year to deliver more high-quality, affordable homes across Scotland.
“Tackling the housing emergency will require a joint approach and, by working with UK government, local authorities and partners including Wheatley Group, and with the introduction of new homelessness prevention duties in the Housing (Scotland) Bill, we will work to ensure that nobody need become homeless in the first place.”
In September, Inside Housing revealed that Mr Henderson had taken a 60% pay cut in his first full year as chief executive of Wheatley.
A Wheatley spokesperson told Inside Housing that Mr Henderson’s decision to take a pay cut for his new role was “a personal choice”.
