A BORDERS association has been named 'Housing Organisation of the Year'.

Eildon Housing Association, based in Selkirk, recently received the award at the Chartered Institute of Housing Awards in Glasgow.

Nile Istephan, chief executive of Eildon Housing, said: "As a Borders-based charity, our focus has always been on addressing local need.

"Eildon's long-standing reputation combined with our financial strength has helped to accelerate the pace of growth to meet this need.

"We are the main provider of new homes (of any tenure) in the Borders and have also grown to become the largest independent provider of housing support and extra care services in the region.

"We are incredibly proud to have received this recognition from the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland."

The organisation, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, has grown from providing a single property in 1973 to owning and managing more than 3,000 homes across the Scottish Borders.

He added: "Along with other parts of Scotland and the UK, we recognise the housing emergency and know our health and social care system is operating under incredible stress.

"This award provides a fantastic incentive to all our employees to do even more for our customers now and into the future."