Marcus Di Rollo discusses the housing crisis in Scotland, considering the implications of rental market policies like the rent cap for both landlords and tenants. Scotland is in the midst of a housing crisis. The number of new-build homes started and completed last year fell by 24% and 11%, res

Professor Ken Gibb discusses the complexities of student accommodation research in Scotland, referencing the work carried out by the University of Glasgow’s Road to Home initiative and key recommendations. Until 2021, my housing research path had never led me to work on student accommodation.

Chris McGinn, commercial manager at PfH Scotland, believes Scottish social landlords need to get back to basics when it comes to reducing the carbon footprint of their homes. More than ever, improving the thermal performance of social homes in Scotland feels like an uphill battle.

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 54 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Housing Bill part 1: Rent controls and tenants' rights with Dr John Boyle’. Professor Douglas Robertson also contributed to this episode, but we could not include his audio in the published recordi

"Technically heat networks aren't really difficult. It is just large-scale plumbing. The heat's already there, we're just moving it.” With the Scottish Government’s New Build Heat Standard now in force, the installation of ‘direct emission’ systems for heating for new build h

Below is a full transcript of episode 53 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Shawfair and clean heating networks with Eoghan Maguire’. Listen to the episode here.

“If we have a choice between a tenant having their home flooded or having to put on an extra jumper, which would you recommend?” For anyone who has encountered architect Fionn Stevenson over her career, her answer to this question will be obvious. It forms part of her claim that a blanke

“The heat’s already there, we’re just moving it”. Jimmy Black mulls over a conversation with Eoghan Maguire, director of heat networks - Scotland at Vattenfall UK. Getting people to work together is seldom easy, particularly when it involves money and hard decisions. It makes

Jimmy Black considers whether the social housing sector and the Scottish Government are effectively measuring the carbon cost of home improvements.

Jimmy Black is looking for credible solutions to Scotland's housing emergency and wants SHN readers to help.

After recording an episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast on the subject of the proposed rent adjudication scheme for the private rented sector, Jimmy Black shares his own experiences.

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

Next month marks the centenary of Scotland’s first council housing estate, the Logie Estate in Dundee. Lauren Brown reports.

Energy debt is becoming an increasing issue of concern for people in Scotland with nearly half of affected households not confident they can clear debts or arrears, new analysis has revealed. The latest Energy Affordability Tracker from Consumer Scotland shows the impact of increasing energy de

Kingdom Housing Association’s Tenancy Sustainment Team has delivered £50,000 worth of direct financial support to customers with fuel debts, providing a financial lifeline during the cost of living crisis.

Families could save up to £200 on yearly energy bills with some helpful hints on how to bring costs down as the school spring break begins, according to charity Children 1st. Anxious parents facing higher energy costs over the school break have been encouraged to seek advice and support from C

Duncan Smith, head of energy & sustainability at River Clyde Homes, details a pilot project being undertaken which aims to transition homes from fossil fuels while reducing fuel poverty.

To mark the release of The Beautiful Game, the new Netflix film that features the Homeless World Cup, a new edition of the book that inspired the movie has been launched. The Beautiful Game, starring Bill Nighy and Micheal Ward, was released by Netflix on March 29. The feature-length drama

Families are increasingly benefiting from the positive impact of Housing First Scotland, figures highlighted in a new report suggest.

National homelessness charity Bethany Christian Trust has been awarded the Outstanding Organisation ‘Five Star’ Award by the European Foundation for Quality Management. The charity was presented with the prestigious five-star Recognised by EFQM award by the chief executive of EFQM in Edi

Two Scottish charities have been recognised by the UK’s leading dog welfare organisation for going above and beyond to help keep people experiencing homelessness and their dogs together.

The Scottish Parliament's Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee and Social Justice and Social Security Committee have today jointly launched a new public consultation on the Scottish Government’s Housing (Scotland) Bill with a focus on homelessness and tenants' rights. The Bill cont

Govan Law Centre (GLC) has recorded a significant demand for housing law advice and representation services over the last six months. The number of type 3 housing cases – homeless, eviction and housing disrepair cases in courts or tribunals – increased by 112% between Quarter 3 (Q3), 1 O

Marcus Di Rollo discusses the housing crisis in Scotland, considering the implications of rental market policies like the rent cap for both landlords and tenants. Scotland is in the midst of a housing crisis. The number of new-build homes started and completed last year fell by 24% and 11%, res

Up to ten developers have said they will stop building homes in Scotland due to its “anti-landlord legislation”, according to reports. Jonathon Ivory, chief investment officer at the developer Packaged Living, has told The Times that his company would not invest any money

Pensioners in five Scottish local authorities will be the first in the country eligible for a new disability benefit, subject to parliamentary approval of regulations. From 21 October, Pension Age Disability Payment – the replacement for Attendance Allowance - will be piloted in Argyll & B

All disabled children and young people in Scotland who receive disability benefits will now be paid directly from Social Security Scotland. Those children and young people who receive Child Disability Payment will also benefit from a review system different to that of the wider UK, one based on dign

More than £90 million will be allocated to local authorities in 2024-25 to support eligible households at risk of hardship after the Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) scheme came under full Scottish Government control from 1 April 2024.

Scottish Government spending on social security could deliver a £300 million boost to Scotland’s economy over the short term, according to new analysis. Figures published by chief economist Gary Gillespie also show that long-term investment in labour market and social security policies c