As well as having an in-house team of expert housing brokers, in certain cases we commission external consultants in legal and financial services to provide additional advice to our clients. The following example shows where working in partnership with a financial adviser made the difference in helping one woman buy her forever home, the house she was already living in.
Emma was a Housing Options Scotland client in 2025. She’d been renting for ten years in a property she’d made her home and that suited her accessibility needs very well. Emma is an ex-army mum of two grown-up boys. She has MS, is a leg amputee and a wheelchair user.
When the owners decided to sell, Emma was given an eviction notice. She couldn’t afford to buy the place she was in and had been told she wasn’t eligible for a mortgage. She contacted Housing Options Scotland to find out if there really was no option for her to buy the house she considered her home. After assessing her needs and her means, we connected Emma with our financial consultant Ian Haughey, Principal Advisor at The Plan B Advice Service.
Ian responded quickly and was able to secure a mortgage offer in principle for Emma, using the Scottish Government’s shared-equity LIFT scheme to support her to buy the home she was living in. Working in partnership with Ian and the team at the Link Group, who administer the LIFT scheme, Emma was supported throughout the whole application and purchase process.
On being able to buy and the support she received from Housing Options Scotland and Ian Haughey, Emma says:
You have provided such a WONDERFUL service and helped me to achieve my dream of finally becoming a homeowner, and being stable in my own adapted house.
I never thought it possible due to my disability and not being able to work, but Ian went above and beyond to help me get the perfect house in a perfect area! Such a wonderful caring person, you’re not just a job to him.
I’m eternally grateful to him and to Housing Options Scotland. Words really can’t express how much all your help was appreciated.
Emma
On the completion of this case and the support that he was able to provide, Ian Haughey reflected that it was “one of the most rewarding results I have ever had, and I am delighted for Emma.”