What is a housing association?

A housing association is a voluntary organisation dedicated to helping people obtain decent, affordable accommodation which meets their needs. (Housing cooperatives are similar to housing associations, but are jointly owned and run by their tenants.) There are lots of different types of housing association offering different kinds of accommodation to different kinds of people. Most of them, however, are 'registered social landlords' (RSLs), which means they register with the Scottish Housing Regulator, which checks that they meet certain standards.

As there is a shortage of decent affordable social housing in Scotland, housing associations here let to people in the greatest need. They are not-for-profit organisations, so any financial surplus goes towards maintaining their existing homes or providing more accommodation. Many housing associations have tenants on the committees which run them, and all co-operatives do.

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