A charity working to alleviate homelessness has announced a new scheme aiming to reduce housing costs in Scotland by building more homes on disused church land.
Housing Justice said that Scotland is currently facing a “housing emergency” and that its Faith in Affordable Housing scheme (FiAH) would help to increase the supply of homes in Scotland.
It’s a basic principle of economics that the price of any item, be it a house or a packet of crisps, is determined by the intersection of supply and demand. Higher supply means lower prices and higher demand means higher prices.
The rising house prices in Scotland are being driven by demand - the number of people wanting a place to live - continuing to outstrip the supply - the number of houses actually available.
Housing Justice noted that many church buildings are closing every year in Scotland due to “declining and ageing congregations”. The FiAH programme involves redeveloping such buildings into housing.
An FiAH scheme is already operating in Wales, where 105 homes have been built across 10 sites. Over 50 more houses are either under construction or will be shortly. The Church of England also has its own project.
Nicola Evans, Director of Housing Justice, said, “We are delighted to have been funded by the Robertson Trust to undertake a feasibility study to enable us to identify the potential opportunities and pitfalls of running Faith in Affordable Housing in Scotland.
“Following a rigorous process, we have engaged ARK Consultancy to work with us to help further our work into Scotland and we are delighted to be at the Increasing Annual Supply Conference talking about our work and meeting colleagues from the sector.
“We are encouraged by the Government’s recent action to improve support for social and affordable housing development, and we are looking forward to working in Scotland alongside ARK.”
