Homelessness and the Recession

29 January 2009 SCHA 02/09

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE
Church leaders’ call on homelessness and the recession

At the opening of Poverty & Homelessness Action Week, leaders of Christian churches in Scotland call for intensive investment in affordable housing

Rt Rev David Lunan, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, together with twelve other church leaders, today endorsed a call from Scottish Churches Housing Action for a return to post-war levels of affordable house-building as a way of avoiding the worst effects of the recession.

The call comes in a paper which Scottish Churches Housing Action has sent to First Minister Alex Salmond MSP, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling MP and other political leaders.

“I congratulate Scottish Churches Housing Action for issuing their well-researched paper on the impact of the recession on homelessness, and for marshalling the arguments in favour of Government-backed social housing programmes, which I welcome,” says the Moderator.

The paper calls on the administrations at Holyrood and Westminster to get together in facilitating a massive boost to public investment in affordable housing. Alastair Cameron, Chief Executive of Scottish Churches Housing Action, who wrote the paper, says, “The church leaders’ endorsement has been hugely encouraging, and we believe there is public support for this approach. “Building affordable homes for rent and for sale will have a triple impact: it will help those who’ll be made homeless in the recession; it will keep people in jobs in the property, building and related industries; and it will keep tax revenues from those jobs flowing to the exchequer, while avoiding unemployment pay-outs.

“We welcome this week’s announcement of further funds for affordable housing development, but we’ve been clear to The Scottish Government that it still doesn’t address the scale of the problem. We’re not asking them to do this despite the recession – we say it’s part of how to deal with it.”

The charity’s call has been endorsed by the Presidents of the Roman Catholic Commissions on Justice & Peace and Social Care; the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church; the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland; and the General Secretary of Action of Churches Together in Scotland, among others.

A list of activities during Poverty & Homelessness Action Week can be found at www.actionweek.org.uk.

NOTES

1. The Statement on Homelessness in a Time of Recession is supported by the following:
Rt Rev David Lunan, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Bishop Peter A. Moran, President, Justice and Peace Commission, Roman Catholic Church
Bishop John Cunningham, President, Commission for Pastoral & Social Care, Roman Catholic Church
Most Rev Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
Rev KM Ferguson, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland
Rev John Humphreys, Moderator, Scottish Synod of United Reformed Church
Rev Bill Slack, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland
Rev Lily Twist, Chair of Synod, Methodist Church in Scotland
Major Robert McIntyre, Scottish Secretary, The Salvation Army
Robin Waterston, Clerk, General Meeting for Scotland, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Rev Kathy Galloway, Leader, Iona Community
Rev Fred Drummond, National Director, Evangelical Alliance Scotland
Brother Stephen Smyth, General Secretary, Action of Churches Together in Scotland
The full text can be downloaded from www.churches-housing.org

2. Scottish Churches Housing Action brings together the major Christian denominations in Scotland under the slogan No Room for Homelessness! It campaigns for the rights of homeless people, promotes the development of volunteer projects, and encourages the churches to make land and property available for affordable housing.
3. The Poverty & Homelessness Action Week partnership comprises Church Action on Poverty, Housing Justice and Scottish Churches Housing Action. The week runs from Saturday 31 January to Sunday 8 February, and includes Homelessness Sunday (31 Jan) and Poverty Action Sunday (8 Feb). www.actionweek.org.uk

For further information contact
Valerie Sparling on 0131 477 4500 or val@churches-housing.org
or Alastair Cameron on 0131 477 4500 or 07900 044577
or alastair@churches-housing.org