Every year, thousands of church buildings across Scotland close due to declining and ageing congregations. Many of these buildings and associated land can be part of the solution to the housing emergency. Through the Faith in Affordable Housing (FiAH) programme, Housing Justice works with churches of all denominations to release surplus land and redundant buildings for the development of new social and genuinely affordable homes.

Housing Justice currently runs FiAH in Wales, where the charity has worked with churches and housing associations to build 105 homes (across 10 sites), with a further 24 (across two sites) currently under construction. Work will soon begin to build an additional 34 homes (across two sites), with many more in the pipeline. The programme has also run successfully in England with the Church of England now undertaking this important work themselves.

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.”