Scottish Housing Advisory Service (SHAS)

The Scottish Housing Advisory Service (SHAS) is a partnership service between Shelter and Citizens Advice Scotland that aims to improve the capacity of housing advice providers to provide quality housing advice.

What is SHAS?

SHAS is a partnership service between Shelter and Citizens Advice Scotland, funded by Communities Scotland and the Scottish Government.

SHAS consists of:

• a telephone advice line for frontline advisers to consult with Shelter's expert housing advisers on how to deal with housing enquiries
• training for voluntary sector agencies on core housing topics such as homelessness and security of tenure
• information resources such as case studies and standard letters that assist and guide advisers to deal with casework
• referral facility for a limited number of complex cases.

Who can access SHAS?

SHAS is available to agencies that meet three criteria:

1. The agency must be identified within their local authority's housing advice and information strategy, or the homelessness strategy, or be confirmed by the local authority as contributing to the delivery of services to meet identified need.
2. The agency must be in the HomePoint directory of information and advice providers.
3. The agency must be able to demonstrate that it is committed to delivering a service that meets the National Standards.

How can I access SHAS?

To access SHAS, agencies must first register with Shelter. This is possible through contacting Suzanne Johnston at Shelter Scotland on 0844 515 2529 or by filling in our online enquiry form.