The call comes following the ‘winding down’ of the Communities Housing Trust, which has been especially active in supporting affordable housing developments in Argyll & Bute, Highland, Moray and Perth & Kinross.

Now the Community Led Housing Alliance, a group of community organisations and community housing advisers, has called for urgent support from the public sector to fill the potential gap left in the region when the Communities Housing Trust winds down operations.

The Alliance calls for urgent action to establish More Homes Scotland and for the new government agency to embed community-led approaches in its remit and confirm sustained grant support for existing third sector organisations which support community housing in various regions of Scotland.

It also asks the Scottish Government to work with the community sector to develop community housing enabling infrastructure in areas of Scotland where there are gaps in provision.

The Communities Housing Trust announced last Monday that the charity can no longer sustain its operations. It has decided to “begin a managed withdrawal from all activities” in which they will seek to “minimise the impact on all stakeholders, including staff, tenants and communities.”

The Trust said it “faces the very real prospect of closure”, although, at present, no decision has been taken to close the charity.

The CHT supported and promoted affordable housing in some of the most economically and socially vulnerable parts of Scotland.

In a statement, the Community Led Housing Alliance – which represents the community housing sector across Scotland and has 80 organisations as members, including the CHT – said: “Since 1998, the Communities Housing Trust has worked to address shortfalls in affordable housing across the Highlands and Inner Hebrides, collaborating with local people, landowners, community organisations, local authorities and other partners to create homes that enable individuals and families to remain in the places they call home, sustaining communities, supporting local economies and helping reverse rural depopulation.”

The Alliance is particularly worried about the possible impact of the CHT problems on the Highland housing sector: “We are especially concerned about the withdrawal of CHT’s services enabling community-led housing in the Highlands and Inner Hebrides. CHT has helped rural and island communities to provide hundreds of affordable homes and respond proactively to failures in the housing system.”

The Alliance welcomes the Scottish Government’s decision to establish a housing agency – More Homes Scotland – as “an opportunity to provide a long-term commitment and design a system of support for the effective delivery of community-led housing across Scotland.”

The organisation has been engaging with the Scottish Government about its plans for the new agency, submitting proposals for how More Homes Scotland might best support community-led housing and boost the delivery of affordable homes, especially in rural areas and the islands.

Chris Dalglish, the coordinator for the Alliance, said they were also engaging with regional development agencies, local authorities and the Scottish National Investment Bank about future support for the community-led housing sector.

“We want to help communities deliver more affordable homes and also to sustain and grow the third sector ecosystem which makes that possible”, Chris Dalglish said.

“The Scottish Government’s commitment to engagement needs to be followed by the swift establishment of More Homes Scotland with support for community-led housing as a key pillar of its mandate. An essential part of this commitment will be enhanced financial support for third sector organisations providing professional advice and enabling services to communities.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Scottish Government and other public sector stakeholders to improve the support available to community organisations and ensure that they can deliver the affordable homes which are needed for their communities and places to thrive.”