With question marks hanging over the Scottish Government's Heat in Buildings Bill, CIH Scotland’s policy and practice manager Ashley Campbell explores the purpose of the legislation and why it’s so needed. Towards the very end of a debate on supporting households with cost of living pres

Robert Ogg, MD at Akela Construction, outlines how the lure of green jobs in the north east could entice skilled workers away from the central belt, potentially leaving much-needed infrastructure projects in limbo. As we look towards 2030 and beyond, Scotland's energy infrastructure is poised for a

Major Will Pearson, who is also a GP, argues that while the number of suspected drug deaths in Scotland has decreased, much more action is required to tackle the issue. “Would you like temporary accommodation or help to get your own place?” Surely the answer is both. It’s the same

Jimmy Black relives a few housing decades with Laurie Naumann, a campaigner on single homelessness, and a founder of Kingdom Housing Association. This is a story about Laurie Naumann, who recently retired after 44 years as a board member at Kingdom Housing Association. But it’s also a step bac

Jimmy Black cycled to Stornoway to meet Calum (Barney) MacKay, chair of TPAS Scotland and long-standing tenant activist. Barney is a trade unionist, and that explains a lot. Trades unions teach their active members how to do many useful things, including basic skills, like how to run a meeting or th

Jimmy Black meets the energetic Evie Copland, multi-award-winner and housing evangelist. “The biggest problem is … how do I change the world with this?” Evie Copland is finishing her Master's in Housing Studies, and she has been a distinguished student. In 2021 she won the Malcolm

Jimmy Black meets Bill Banks, retiring CEO of the multi award-winning Kingdom Group. Bill Banks looks relaxed, calm and entirely at home in his relatively modest office at Kingdom Housing Association. He’s a man at the height of his powers with a very solid track record of achievement. But Bil

Below is a full transcript of episode 66 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Martin Wilkie-McFarlane on Wellhouse, regulatory intervention and more'. Listen to the episode here.

“Compulsory purchase reform is absolutely critical because we do need a backstop if landowners aren't prepared to come to the table on reasonable terms.” In this episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast, Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black speak to two guests who have new proposals to hel

Below is a full transcript of episode 65 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Rural housing: Public land acquisition and the Right to Live with Hamish Trench and Ailsa Raeburn'. Listen to the episode here.

“We go into this project not looking for awards but it's good actually to recognise the contribution of our staff and it's also a good way for our suppliers and the other stakeholders in this to be recognised as well. So it's a win-win-win for customers, us and the contractors.” If you c

Jimmy Black digs into the Scottish Land Commission’s new report, Community Land Scotland’s “Right to Live” and living on Solid Ground.

A trip to Greenock to see the award-winning retrofit project at Prospecthill Court for the Scottish Housing News Podcast provides Jimmy Black with renewed vigour regarding the potential for multi-storey to play a part in Scotland's housing landscape. Take an elderly multi high above the Clyde on an

Following a conversation with Simon Fitzpatrick for the Scottish Housing News Podcast, Jimmy Black thinks about wheels and lifts, beautiful new Blackwood Homes and folks stuck up thousands of tenement stairs. Wheels. Perhaps architects should have an app which lets them push a virtual pram through e

Jimmy Black hears about some great work happening in Perth & Kinross; then thinks about people excluded from the housing market by high prices and poverty. We’re running out of words. We’ve used “housing emergency” to explain the failure of our housing markets to provide

For the next edition of Our Housing Heritage, journalist and digital history specialist Chris Holme shares the story of how First World War servicemen came to reside in the rural village of Longniddry. Unlikely as it sounds, the Longniddry Piggery provided Britain’s first purpose-built homes f

In the latest article in the ongoing Our Housing Heritage series, Scottish Housing News discusses the Glasgow Rent Strikes of 1915. In the absence of social housing, families across the UK in 1915 were at the mercy of private landlords who could hike rents and evict tenants at will with little restr

The Springburn office of ng homes is named after Ned Donaldson. But who was Ned Donaldson? Kieran Findlay recalls the contribution of the activist and the post-war battle to stop the privatisation of council housing at Merrylee. It was a cold sleety December day in 1951. Slum landlordism and sublett

Duncan Smith, who works in the social housing sector, has contributed this piece as part of his quest for more information about housing architect George Gibson. Several years ago, just after starting my current job, I undertook some research on the properties we were refurbishing at the time. I fou

The Scottish Government has announced that it will abandon its flagship plan to require homeowners to switch to greener heating systems shortly after purchasing a new home, a decision which has sparked a diverse range of reactions from political leaders, environmental groups, and industry represent

A project to help combat fuel poverty through solar power has been shortlisted as a finalist for the UK Roofing Awards 2025.

Three in four Scottish pensioners said they were cold in their own homes over the winter, according to research published by Age Scotland. 

Around one in five Scottish households will now be eligible for energy relief after the UK Government's decision to extend the Warm Homes Discount.

ARK Consultancy has raised £2,000 for The Ootsider, a Livingston based Community Interest Company which provides sleeping coats for rough sleepers. The ARK team met John Keogh, founder and CEO of The Ootsider at the CIH Scotland Housing Festival last week where they heard more about the compan

Further measures to ensure people receive the required support before they experience the trauma of homelessness will be introduced as part of amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, housing minister Paul McLennan said today. The Bill currently places a stronger importance on preventing homelessn

The City of Edinburgh Council has voted to approve Social Bite’s proposal to move its supported accommodation facility to a new site in Granton.

A man who experienced homelessness twice is now working for the housing support organisation that helped him get his life back on track.  Christian Lilombo first became homeless in his early teens following the death of his mother. During the pandemic, he found himself without a place to live a

Aoife Deery from Citizens Advice Scotland explores how progress is being made but more needs to be done to provide a rented sector that people deserve in Scotland. It’s hard to believe that less than 50 years ago in Scotland, if you found yourself living in poor conditions or worse, homeless,

MSPs are to consider whether to bring in a permanent ban on landlords evicting tenants during winter.

The Additional Dwelling Supplement rise is another blow to Scottish landlords, but opportunities remain in a sector which can bring rich rewards, argues Riccardo Giovanacci. The Scottish Government had another thoughtful Christmas present for landlords in the Private Rental Sector (PRS) in Dece

Newton Property Management, a provider of property factoring services across Scotland, has opened a new office in Inverclyde. Newton delivers transparent, efficient property management services nationwide with offices currently in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness.

Concerns have been raised about how people in Scotland could be impacted by plans announced by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall to cut £5 billion of UK government spending on welfare by the end of the decade. The measures, which the government argues are needed to “fi

The Scottish Government will invest nearly £2.2 million to enable the Wise Group to provide wrap-around support to individuals and families on low incomes in six local authority areas. The investment, from the Tackling Child Poverty Fund, was announced by social justice secretary Shirley-Anne

The families of 326,080 children under 16 years of age were receiving vital support from Scottish Child Payment as of 31 December 2024, according to new figures. More £1 billion has now been paid to parents and carers since the payment was introduced in February 2021.

A plan has been unveiled to tackle £70 million in unclaimed benefits in the Highland area.