Opinion

Following the latest episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast in which Nick Pollard and Julie McDowell share their environmental, social and governance (ESG) expertise, Jimmy Black ponders what this means for other housing associations and their boards.

Tracey Varnava introduces the University of Southampton's Homematters2 Project which looks to tackle household debt and eviction.

Following National Grid's announcement of the largest grid overhaul in generations, Forster Group chair John Forster shares his own commentary on the news. Last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported strong headwinds in favour of investment in renewable energy technologies across the g

As Scotland marks Dementia Awareness Week, Ashley Campbell reflects on Scotland's new national Dementia Strategy. The Scottish Government has a long-standing commitment to support people to live well at home or in a homely setting for as long as they want to and it’s safe for them to do so.

Lara Oyedele, president of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), is asking members to complete their equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) census. CIH is urging members to complete their EDI census to discover what their membership, and in turn, the housing profession looks like across the UK.

Bob McIntosh, the tenant farming commissioner, explores upcoming changes to the standards for agricultural housing. Scottish Ministers have clearly signalled that they would like a whole-sector approach to standards for rented housing – aligning not only the private and social rented sectors b

Foster Evans looks at the Scottish housing review post-Grenfell, and what Scotland can learn from the tragedy. On 16 June 2017, 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire. The primary cause was the spread of fire caused by external cladding, which was only installed to stop the building being an &lsq

Policy and practice manager Ashley Campbell takes a look at what we can expect, and what CIH Scotland would like to see, included in the upcoming Housing Bill.

Ahead of Homes for Scotland's Annual Lunch 2023 this week, chief executive Jane Wood discusses the need to build more homes. Everyone should have a place to call home and as I mark my first year as chief executive at Homes for Scotland, I have been pondering what ‘home’ means.

Ollie Gray, business development director at Charis, provides his response to the recent story concerning carpets being ripped out of social housing, and not replaced. A recent article stated how 1.2 million people living in social housing in the UK have no carpet or flooring in their bedrooms or li

Iain Hardie explores the impact of the UK’s Universal Credit rollout on housing insecurity, examining research findings that suggest an increase in housing problems and approaches for assistance due to the policy implementation, as well as discussing the key aspects of Universal Credit that c

There is no doubt that launching a Passivhaus equivalent for Scotland will drive up the operational efficiency of homes, but as Mike Stevenson, senior manager strategic markets at NorDan UK argues, we also can’t be passive about embodied carbon. There is no doubt that a proposed Scottish equiv

Scottish Land Commissioner Lorne MacLeod reflects on the first meeting of the newly re-established Community Land Leadership Group and its aims for the future of community land ownership in Scotland. Community land ownership has long been central to Scotland’s land reform journey. The growing

In light of the upcoming Homes for Scotland awards, architect George Buchanan explores the ways in which demand for architecture has changed in recent years and the importance of designing homes with the resident in mind. The UK has always had a fascination with homes, but in a post-Covid world, our

City of Edinburgh Council housing convenor Councillor Jane Meagher reflects on a constructive week for the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee. Driving forward improvements to tenants’ homes is one of the most important things we need to get right as a Committee – but with high