{"id":2287,"date":"2019-09-04T03:17:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T02:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:38:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T15:38:59","slug":"are-you-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/?p=2287","title":{"rendered":"Are you with us?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you with us? The campaign for housing rights in Scotland – a blog from Shelter Scotland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Shelter Scotland launched a new campaign for housing rights in\nScotland, including the launch of a public petition to embed the human right to\nhousing fully in Scottish law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been a lot of talk of rights recently: including concern about\nwhat happens with Brexit and the potential degradation of human rights\nprotection that might follow.  But more\nspecifically: the First\nMinister’s advisory group of human rights leadership<\/a> and their recommendations\nfor incorporation of economic social and cultural human rights into Scottish\nlaw, and the recent taskforce<\/a>\nthat has been set up to take this forward; the work with\na tenants organisation<\/a> in Leith looking at how taking a human rights based\napproach to housing can help tenants have their voice heard; the SERCO\nevictions in Glasgow and the Scottish Human Rights Commission\u2019s landmark\nintervention<\/a>. And, closer to home, the housing sector’s own focus on human\nrights will be the theme of this year’s Scottish Housing Day<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want people across Scotland to join\nwith us and sign a petition to show their support for stronger human rights in\nrelation to housing.<\/strong> But what we know from providing advice and support to\npeople in housing need, and a view commonly shared amongst organisations\nproviding frontline advice, is that rights\nalone are not enough<\/strong>. Even a well written, fully incorporated right to\nadequate housing is not a silver bullet to the housing emergency we’re\ncurrently in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know (& we extends to the whole sector, not just Shelter Scotland)\nthat to lots of people, rights to\nhousing are routinely denied<\/strong>. And that when this happens, often individuals\ndon’t feel able to enforce their rights – a tribunal might seem too time\nconsuming, a court might seem too intimidating, and a letter or ask is\nimpossible for people who are unaware of their rights in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So: what are the solutions? What needs to happen on the ground? We have a\nnational action plan on ending homelessness which contains much of what is\nnecessary: programmes like rolling out SHORE standard-type initiatives across\nall groups we know are at higher risk of homelessness; we\u2019re not suggesting\nreinventing the wheel. But this isn\u2019t just about homelessness \u2013 but about\nlooking holistically at the right to housing, and how this works across tenures,\nacross communities, and across Scotland. Everyone\nhas the right to a good, safe home<\/strong>. We believe that taking a rights-based\napproach will help achieve a safe, secure home for everyone. Which is why we\u2019re\nasking for people to join us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n