SFHA at Parliament
In his blog, Public Affairs and Policy Co-ordinator Corrie Innes talks about our recent exhibition at the Scottish Parliament.
Last week, SFHA held an exhibition in the Members’ Lobby of the Scottish Parliament, distributing our new Regional Guides to Social Housing for MSPs and chatting to parliamentarians from across the country.
Earlier this year, we published our Guide to Social Housing for MSPs, which offered an introduction to the sector for representatives and their staff, and practical advice on helping their constituents with housing issues. We’ve now updated them to reflect the specific issues around social housing in each of Scotland’s eight electoral regions, from the issue of second homes and holiday lets in the Highlands & Islands, to the housing crisis in Edinburgh.
The guides, and our exhibition in parliament to promote them in person, presented a fantastic opportunity to tell our sector’s story to these key stakeholders. This is more important than ever as the government prepares its plans for the social housing rent freeze after winter, and amid the wider context of housing reforms which it has committed to over the next few years. Housing associations and co-operatives do great work, and we are rightly proud to represent them and promote that work.
It was great to hear parliamentarians sharing stories of their local housing associations and the real impact the have in constituencies across Scotland. Naturally, some members are more engaged with the sector than others, and we hope we used our conversations with those less involved to inform them and bring them on board. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking several MSPs out to visit SFHA members in their areas, building a connection between them and reinforcing the value of the sector when the time comes to vote on future legislation!