Opinion

The ongoing reverberations of the pandemic have made 2021 a unique year for the construction sector and residential property market. In this article, Queensberry Properties’ director, Steven Simpson, looks back on another challenging twelve months. As another pandemic-blighted year draws to a

Craig Sanderson retired after 44 years at the Link Group Ltd, 31 of those as CEO. TPAS chief executive Lesley Baird will step down soon after 25 years. On Episode 4 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast, they cast their minds back to a time when modern housing associations were new and tenants s

Professor Duncan Maclennan from the University of Glasgow discusses how Australia is emerging as a key exemplar of the OECD’s concerns that unbalanced housing markets now impede inclusive growth and the implications for other housing markets.

Garry Burns from Homeless Action Scotland argues that nobody who is in employment should be over-charged for homeless accommodation. As part of our work in the Scottish Parliamentary election earlier this year we called for the Scottish Government to carry out a number of actions. One of these actio

As CIH Scotland publishes a policy paper setting out where it considers the Scottish Government should focus its whole rented sector reforms, national director Callum Chomczuk, argues why housing standards and tenants' rights should also be aligned. The housing system in Scotland is notori

As the world marks 2021 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Lorna Cameron, CEO of Horizon Housing Association, argues that Scotland must intensify efforts to tackle a critical accessible housing shortage that has left thousands of disabled people trapped in unsuitable homes. Slow progres

Scottish Housing News Podcast co-host Jimmy Black gives his take on today's new episode in which Professor Douglas Robertson tells SHN… if we can’t fix leaky roofs in private flats, how will we ever make them carbon neutral? Meantime, Cllr Anne Rendall reflects on £4.4 millio

In Co-Production Week, Doug Gibson from Homeless Network Scotland explores the layers of partnership and collaboration sitting behind the scaling up of Scotland’s Housing First ambition. More than 100 public and third sector leaders are coming together this morning to learn about and discuss t

Andrew Cowie, a member of the Accounts Commission, discusses future reporting on the performance of Scotland’s housing benefit services. Every year, Scotland’s councils pay out £1.4 billion in housing benefit. Council benefit services are a lifeline service to many needing vital he

As social landlords gear up to calculate rent proposals for the year ahead, Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations director David Bookbinder outlines why the post-lockdown landscape could be the most difficult yet. Grappling with the next rent increase is never easy, but thi

East Lothian Council leader Norman Hampshire outlines the local authority's reaction to the 4th draft National Planning Framework (NPF4). The draft NPF4 provides a spatial strategy and core planning policies to guide where development and infrastructure should go.

Paul Ellis, chief executive of Ecol­ogy Build­ing So­ci­ety Agenda, discusses how climate change can be fought on the homes front. COP26 has been described as "the last best hope for the world to get its act together" on climate change, and the science could not be clearer. Climate c

Jimmy Black writes about the latest episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast, with Link Group’s finance director Nick Pollard. I used to sit on the committee of a local authority pension fund, and I made unpopular suggestions. I’d say “Let’s stop investing in tobacco,&rdq

Former Link Group chief executive Craig Sanderson responds to episode 1 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast and the corresponding Black's Blog via a conversation he had with an old school friend. Thanks Jimmy Black, Kieran Findlay, David Bookbinder and Teresa Bray for your recent podcast episode an

Catherine Hall, a member of the Policy and Practice Team at CIH Scotland before leaving to pursue a PhD in environmental law, discusses equality, diversity and inclusion in the aftermath of COVID-19. As we continue to better understand Covid-19, there exists a growing realisation that the virus was