News

Scotland's "unworkable" Rent Pressure Zones should be urgently replaced with a system of "proper rent controls", according to a new report. The Rent Controls Scotland Needs is set to be launched in Glasgow tomorrow by Living Rent, Scotland's tenants' union, in conjunction with "think-and-do tank" Co

Aberdeen City Council has launched a new empty homes service with support from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP). A full-time specialist empty homes officer will be employed to help track down owners of empty properties and work with them to return them to the housing stock, for instance b

North Lanarkshire Council has announced plans to overhaul how it allocates sheltered housing to older people. From April, the council will be contacted over 1,000 older people currently on the waiting list for sheltered accommodation to arrange an assessment and gauge their support requirements.

Homelessness charity Bethany Christian Trust has launched a new campaign to raise urgent funds for beds in their emergency night shelter in Edinburgh. Through the Winter Care Shelter, now permanently based at Diadem, on Gorgie Road, the charity provides a safe and warm night's sleep to people facing

Housebuilding in Scotland has not recovered to pre-recession levels, unlike the sector in England and Wales, because of differences in the planning system, MSPs have been told. Nicola Barclay, chief executive of Homes for Scotland, told the Scottish Parliament's economy committee that the national p

Military veterans and their families will be able to access military accommodation for up to a year after leaving service under new measures announced yesterday. Current Service Family Accommodation (SFA) rules, which allow personnel who have left the Armed Forces to stay in military housing for six

The Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers (ASSC) has called for local authorities to be allowed to limit the number of short-term rental properties in rent pressure zones. In a new paper, Long-Term Approach to Short-Term Letting, the association has sought to reconcile the economic benefit of the

The Isle of Rum Community Trust (IRCT) has lodged a planning application for eight new houses on the island, to be managed by Lochaber Housing Association. The proposed development would be made up of two blocks of four two-bedroom houses, the Press & Journal reports.

West Dunbartonshire Council did not place anyone presenting as homeless in bed and breakfast accommodation last year, according to new figures. The council has scrapped the use of B&Bs for homeless people, with just one being placed in a B&B in 2017/18 and just six in 2017/17, the Clydebank

East Dunbartonshire Council has agreed to a 3.5% increase in council housing rent as part of its housing revenue and capital budget for 2019/20. The average weekly rent will increase from £73.27 to £75.83 over a 52-week period, an average weekly increase of £2.56.

Council tax in the Western Isles is set to be increased by 4.8% next year, the maximum permitted by the Scottish Government. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar will vote later this week on whether to go ahead with the increase proposed by council officers, the Stornoway Gazette reports.

Elderly tenants of Langstane Housing Association have received an apology from Aberdeen City Council for failing to deliver a grit bin as promised. The council agreed last September to install a grit bin close to the Seaton Walk residents after being approached by local MSP Kevin Stewart.

SHARE’s annual conference is only weeks away and the programme is looking great. In addition to all those work-related workshops, delegates can also relax and have a bit of fun while taking part in team building exercises and networking with colleagues. How about archery, gin tasting and a bre

Renters in England and Wales would have saved £1.8 billion in rent over the past two decades if the UK Government had invested in social housing, according to new research. The Local Government Association (LGA) commissioned Cambridge Economics to assess the implications if 100,000 government-

Governments in Edinburgh and London need to deliver a new drive to stop big businesses paying their smaller suppliers unacceptably late, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. Ahead of the Spring Statement next month, FSB’s new Fair Pay, Fair Play campaign calls on the UK Government