Homes for Scotland (HFS) has won the Public Affairs award at this year's Scottish DARE Awards for its inaugural public campaign, Homes Build Futures. The awards are run by the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the world's largest professional body for public relations, communications and public affairs.

Developed with Muckle Media, the campaign set out to underline the urgent need for more homes and to spark civic conversation ahead of the Scottish Parliament election on 7 May.

The initiative was conceived following the Scottish Parliament's declaration of a national housing emergency in May 2024, evidenced by:

- 693,000 Scots households facing some form of housing need

- Record numbers in temporary accommodation, including 10,180 children

- 250,000 people on housing waiting lists

- An accumulated shortfall of more than 110,000 homes since 2008

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- Ongoing declines in the number of new homes built across all tenures

With chronic undersupply affecting people directly and indirectly through family, friends and colleagues, the campaign aimed to inform, educate and share stories across civic society, challenge the status quo, mobilise public advocates for more homes and foster constructive, outcome-focused dialogue with policymakers.

HFS Chief Executive Jane Wood said: "We are tremendously proud that the Homes Build Futures campaign has been recognised with this prestigious award, especially as this is the first time we have undertaken such a project.

"Although everyone is affected by the national housing emergency, it is our young people and future generations that will suffer most if action isn't taken now so it was critically important to us that this came through in the creative. Thanks to our partners at Muckle Media, it most definitely did. Judges praised the framing of the issue as one shared across society and generations with a story backdrop that worked really well in capturing imagination."

Nathalie Agnew, Managing Director at Muckle Media, said: "We were so inspired when we received the brief from Homes for Scotland. One of our core values is to leave the world in a better place so this was a cause we were eager to support. We loved collaborating with the Homes for Scotland in-house team and are delighted the meaningful impact our creative campaign delivered has been recognised by the award judges."

Further details about the campaign are available at homesbuildfutures.scot/.