Three Scottish housing associations have celebrated the delivery of innovative homes in Dundee to support independent living and help address the housing emergency in Scotland. In an event at the Charleston homes in Dundee yesterday, MP for Dundee Chris Law and MSP for Dundee City West, Joe Fitzpatr
Latest Events
Follow Us On LinkedIn!
Stay up to date with all the latest news, jobs and events on LinkedIn!
Visit Our PageAppointments
See all articlesFollowing its AGM, Forth Housing Association has appointed Andrea Finkel-Gates as its new chair. Kenny Hutton remains as joint vice chair along with Ann Dickson who recently stepped down from chair after having served for 2 terms and has been on the committee for 5 years. The association
Jim Cargill has been elected by the board as the new chair of Grampian Housing Association (GHA), while Ritchie Johnson takes over as vice chair, following the Association's 50th annual general meeting. During the event, members welcomed hearing that it had been another successful year as achie
Clyde Valley Housing Association (CVHA) welcomed four new members to its board during its Annual General Meeting last week as the Association prepares to launch its new five-year corporate strategy in 2025. CVHA said the new members bring a diverse range of skills and expertise, further strengthenin
Lesley Janes has been appointed as finance director at the Kingdom Group, taking up her new post on 11 November. A qualified chartered accountant with 15 years experience in a variety of sectors and roles, Lesley joins the Kingdom Group from Caledonia Housing Association where she is currently the i
Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership has appointed Pat Togher as its new chief officer. Pat is currently chief officer for the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) and Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). Prior to that, he was assistant chief officer at Glasgow's HSCP.
Opinion
See all articlesHomeless Network Scotland's chief executive Maggie Brünjes responds to new figures that revealed a record-breaking 10,110 children are living in homeless accommodation and an increase in the number of homeless applications. The annual homelessness statistics released yesterday by the Scottish G
On the eve of the Housing & Social Care Accessibility Summit, Dougie Herd from headline sponsor Campion Homes says housebuilders are ready to build more accessible homes if the government provides the necessary support. Scotland is at a pivotal moment in addressing the need for accessible housin
Professor Douglas Robertson provides an overview of the main findings of the RentBetter research project led by Indigo House and funded by the Nationwide Foundation. The reform of any policy introduces a new set of dynamics within any system. Any policy’s success measured against its stated am
Dr Joel Callow from Beyond Carbon channels his inner car showroom salesman to explain why Scotland needs absolute targets for energy in housing. “The fuel economy? Yes I have very good news on that front madam, you won’t be disappointed with your purchase. This car has been benchmarked a
Housing Champions
See all articlesSHN's Housing Champions feature returns with Lorna Cameron, chief executive of Horizon Housing, who speaks to Margaret Taylor about the inextricable link between accessible housing and social care. It is almost 35 years since Lorna Cameron started her career at what was Strathclyde Regiona
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
Scottish Housing News Podcast
See all articles“Partnership work is about relationships, it's knowing people, it's understanding each of us have roles and responsibilities but keeping in mind what we're all trying to achieve at the end of the day and that's the outcomes for people that live in our communities to allow them to thrive and su
Below is a full transcript of episode 62 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Accessible housing (part 3) with Jacquie Pepper and Elaine Ritchie’. Listen to the episode here.
“If we don't grab and grab with both hands that prevention agenda, do more now, given we know what's coming our way from our demographics, then we are going to be in a much worse state than we are now in 10, 20 years time.” Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black continue their exploration of the
Below is a full transcript of episode 61 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Accessible housing (part 2) with Angela Currie’. Listen to the episode here.
“You can't do all of the things that people take for granted if you can't get in and out of your house.” In the run-up to the Housing & Social Care Accessibility Summit in Dundee, Jimmy Black and Kieran Findlay discuss the practical housing issues often confronted by people
Black's Blog
See all articlesJimmy 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
Jimmy Black hopes Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs) will find inspiration at the Housing & Social Care Accessibility Summit, after a chat with Hanover Scotland's Angela Currie.
Jimmy Black thinks about wheelchairs, accessible houses, cycling on grass and a conversation with Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP.
Jimmy Black reflects on a conversation with Helen Murdoch from the Salvation Army and Janet Haugh from Right There.
Jimmy Black picks up themes from the latest episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast, with SFHA’s Sally Thomas, Holyrood PR’s Chris Fairbairn and co-host Kieran Findlay.
Our Housing Heritage
See all articlesFor 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
Next month marks the centenary of Scotland’s first council housing estate, the Logie Estate in Dundee. Lauren Brown reports.
Fuel Poverty
See all articlesSocial justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has written to secretary of state for work and pensions Liz Kendall to urge the UK Government to reverse the cut to Winter Fuel Payment. Ms Somerville called on the UK Government to take action to address the root causes of fuel poverty and volatile e
Hamilton-based principal contractor Procast Group has commenced work on a significant £5 million project to install external wall insulation across 267 flats managed by Calvay Housing Association.
Social enterprise Changeworks has made a difference to over 150,000 householders since its home decarbonisation strategy launched in 2022, according to its latest impact report. Innovative service development and partnership working has been key for the organisation towards achieving its aim of ensu
Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Energy Agency (ALIenergy) has signed an agreement with renewable energy developer Galileo that will pursue opportunities to give local communities the chance to take a financial stake in Corr Chnoc Wind Farm. The proposed 12-turbine scheme is located on land at Dunach
An attempt to block moves by the UK Government to scrap the winter fuel payments this year has failed in Parliament.
Homelessness
See all articlesHomeless Network Scotland's chief executive Maggie Brünjes responds to new figures that revealed a record-breaking 10,110 children are living in homeless accommodation and an increase in the number of homeless applications. The annual homelessness statistics released yesterday by the Scottish G
A new high quality supported accommodation project in Rutherglen has been given planning permission. The project will be delivered in partnership between South Lanarkshire Council and the charity Social Bite, based at the site of the former Westfield Saw Mills in Harriet Street.
Scotland's housing minister has admitted that newly released annual homelessness statistics showing a record-breaking 10,110 children are living in homeless accommodation and an increase in the number of homeless applications as "deeply concerning".
A Holyrood Committee has raised concerns about a lack of detail in a Bill which proposes a move away from a crisis management approach to a preventative approach to homelessness in Scotland. The Social Justice and Social Security Committee has been scrutinising the homelessness and domestic violence
Homelessness workers in frontline roles have been recognised for the critical jobs they do with the announcement of access to a leading discount scheme.
PRS
See all articlesProfessor Douglas Robertson provides an overview of the main findings of the RentBetter research project led by Indigo House and funded by the Nationwide Foundation. The reform of any policy introduces a new set of dynamics within any system. Any policy’s success measured against its stated am
The UK Government has been urged to assess the "inadequacy and volatility" of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the wake of new private rent inflation figures.
New research on Scottish tenancy reform has highlighted how significant changes to private rented legislation have delivered improvements in Scotland, but emphasises the urgent need for stronger measures to ensure renters are protected.
Short-term let (STL) operators in Edinburgh will now be able to apply for planning permission before their licences are determined following a successful legal challenge.
The Upper Tribunal for Scotland has allowed an appeal by a landlord ordered to pay over £5,000 to her former student tenants after finding that the First-tier Tribunal had inadequate evidence to reach the conclusions it did.
Welfare
See all articlesSocial justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has written to secretary of state for work and pensions Liz Kendall to urge the UK Government to reverse the cut to Winter Fuel Payment. Ms Somerville called on the UK Government to take action to address the root causes of fuel poverty and volatile e
The UK Government has been urged to assess the "inadequacy and volatility" of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the wake of new private rent inflation figures.
In excess of 26,000 customers were assisted by the Highland Council’s Welfare Support Team and Citizens Advice during 2023/24 for support with welfare, debt and housing issues. As a result, financial gains for clients exceeded £26.8 million, representing a £17.32 return for every &
Innovative approaches to providing families with locally-based wrap-around support will be backed in five more areas as part of £1.57 million of additional investment this financial year. The Fairer Futures Partnerships will ensure services are integrated to help families where and when they n
West Dunbartonshire Council’s Working4U Money team has helped almost 4,000 local residents gain £8.2 million through benefit claims and debt write-offs as a result of its support services.