The McKay Smartmove Project, operated by the Cyrenians, is celebrating reaching its annual target of establishing 26 tenancies, two months early.

In the previous two years, the scheme had been able to create just 11 tenancies in total and a report on deposit guarantee schemes in Scotland suggested it would have to be redeveloped.

The study, commissioned by the Scottish Executive, said Dundee landlords were unwilling to become involved with the project and that the character of the local housing market meant its clients were competing with the city’s sizeable student population for a limited number of private sector properties.

However, a sustained campaign to raise the scheme’s profile in the city has turned the situation around and it now receives referrals from the local authority, the prison service and other agencies, as well as approaches from individuals who feel it could help them.

The project is also building up a solid bank of landlords, who are happy to support its aims.

The Dundee scheme was launched in 2000 with funding from Crisis Smartmove and the Government’s Rough Sleepers Initiative to offer guarantees to landlords instead of deposits, allowing people, who would never be able to raise the required downpayment, to take up tenancies with private landlords.

It also offers on-going support to tenants, as project manager Graham Leuchars explained.

“A lot of homeless people coming through the system have other baggage, such as problems with drink or drugs, and we have to find out if they are at the stage of being ready to take on the responsibility of a tenancy,” he said.

Once an applicant has been assessed as suitable, the charity’s outreach and resettlement team identifies a package of support, which is available for as long as necessary. With the help of the Tayside Furniture project, the team also ensures every new tenant has the basics required to set up home

Mr Leuchars praised the landlords who have come on board for their enthusiastic support for the project.

“We have a number of landlords who work very well with us, so we are now finding we have no shortage of vacant properties,” he said. “We also owe a lot of thanks to the outside agencies.”

Though the project works with single homeless people and childless couples from the age of 18, in practice it is difficult to find tenancies for people under the age of 25, as they are only eligible for a restricted level of housing benefit.

“We have only managed to find one tenancy for an 18-year-old, and that is going very well, but we are not getting the number of young people through the system we would like to see.”

Looking to the future, the project is now in the early stages of creating a befriending scheme, which will train volunteers to work with Cyrenians’ clients in Dundee.