Opinion

The Scottish Government declared a housing emergency in May 2024, acknowledging that Scotland lacked sufficient housing supply to meet demand. This was partly self-inflicted, with the government cutting its affordable housing building supply programme and imposing rent controls without exemption, wh

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron writes about the challenges facing Edinburgh, and the work being done to tackle them. In Edinburgh, our population continues to grow at speed and for some years now, housing demand has been significantly outstripping supply.  

Hans Mitchell discusses the critically slow progress of Scotland's National Cladding Remediation Programme, which, despite increased government funding and a high demand for building safety assessments, is severely hampered by a national shortage of qualified fire safety engineers to carry out the e

Social justice researcher Kamila Feddek discusses the key findings from a series of policy workshops focused on Renfrewshire, outlining the interconnected challenges of housing, the cost-of-living crisis, care, health, and employment, alongside solutions proposed by local stakeholders. Between Novem

UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) director Professor Kenneth Gibb highlights how Housing Support can return at least £4.85 of benefits for every £1 spent. For several years, CaCHE and colleagues, namely Vikki McCall, have contributed a number of papers and studies in t

Susan Jackson, joint managing director of Campion Homes, discusses the important role that SME housebuilders will play in tackling the housing crisis. The housing emergency has rightly returned to the heart of Scotland’s political conversation. With the appointment of Màiri McAllan as c

Dr Michael Marshall of the University of Sheffield discusses a new report on Affordable Housing Need in Scotland Post-2026, which indicates that over 15,000 new homes are required per year between 2026-2031. Last week, CaCHE published a new report – Affordable Housing Need in Scotland Pos

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations' new chief executive, Richard Meade, reflects on this week's passing of the Housing (Scotland) Bill and highlights how the organisation helped shape its homelessness prevention measures. As one of the most scrutinised pieces of legislation in Scottish

Homeless Network Scotland provides its own commentary on this week's passing of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Late on Tuesday night, MSPs passed the Housing (Scotland) Bill. This is a landmark moment for the many organisations that have been working for years to prevent homelessness – and more

David Gibb, operations director at Dwello, takes a positive look at the Housing (Scotland) Bill. In the long, drawn-out process of the Housing Bill (Scotland) progressing through the Scottish Parliament, much of the input from the sector has been focused on the negative impacts of the legislation fo

As Scottish communities, schools, businesses and individuals celebrate their climate progress this week, Grampian Housing Association CEO Craig Stirrat shares his experience of being an early adopter of the Sustainability Reporting Standard (SRS). It's Scotland’s Climate Week, when Scottish co

Ahead of the 1 October energy price cap rise, Kingdom Group chief executive Tom Barclay outlines the steps required to address the troubling increase in fuel poverty across Scotland. The 2% rise in energy bills from October couldn't come at a worse time. With 861,000 Scottish households already stru

As CIH Scotland launches its Manifesto for Housing ahead of the 2026 elections, Gavin Smith, chair of the CIH Scotland board, reflects on the last few years and what the future of housing should look like. Taking over as chair of the CIH Scotland board in 2021 was an honour and a privilege, but I kn

After River Clyde Homes was shortlisted for six CIH Scottish Housing Awards 2025, customer services director Stevie McLachlan shares what it means to the organisation. I am delighted to confirm that River Clyde Homes has been shortlisted for the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland Housing

In the wake of the latest quarterly homelessness statistics, Right There CEO Janet Haugh shares what needs to be done from a housing perspective to start to reverse Scotland's terrible record on homelessness and highlights the need for a consistent, person-centred support that follows individuals an