Opinion

With all of Holyrood’s political parties now supporting Housing First ahead of May’s election, Professor Sarah Johnsen, an expert in homelessness policy based with I-SPHERE at Heriot-Watt University, explains why the approach is attractive to politicians looking for an effective, evidenc

Following the tragic news that a young man died of a drug overdose days after leaving his rehabilitation placement, Homeless Action Scotland communications and engagement manager Garry Burns offers a practical housing solution to help prevent similar deaths from happening in the futur

Scottish Empty Homes Partnership national project manager Shaheena Din outlines the benefits of employing an empty homes officer and argues that bringing empty homes back into use can a key pandemic recovery strategy for Scotland's councils. From Dumfries and Galloway to the Western Isles,

CIH’s role as the professional body is to champion the role that housing professionals play in making a difference to people's lives every day and to unite housing professionals across the whole sector. Or as we put it formally in our mission statement “to support housing professionals t

Phil O’Brien reflects on the affordability of housing as an ongoing issue in Scotland and how the Scottish Government have recently announced future plans to tackle the issue of affordable housing. The Scottish Government has announced plans to invest £3.4 billion in affordable hous

Mergers are often a topic that charity trustees would rather avoid. Yet it’s one that some in Scotland are now considering as they look to a future shaped by the legacy of Covid-19, writes Alastair Keatinge. As we close in on the first anniversary of Lockdown One, only now are we starting

Rodney White suggests that Westminster and Holyrood should "step up to the plate" and fund infrastructure specifically for housebuilding projects. "Build back infrastructure" is not as snappy or alliterative as the build-back-better mantra favoured by politicians who believe that post-Covid-19 there

The Scottish Government's decision to opt for a six month notice period for social sector arrears cases will not protect the people it is intended to, argues Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF) director David Bookbinder. So we now know that there is to be a continu

Rosie Gollan, an Edinburgh-based solicitor at law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, looks at the Building Safety Bill and its implications in Scotland. Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the UK Government has been reviewing and taking steps to reform our building and fire safety regimes. 

Shelter Scotland's assistant director for communication & advocacy, Gordon MacRae, said last week's report from the Homelessness Prevention Review Group will not necessarily safeguard and enhance existing homelessness rights and protections. Last week’s publication of the report

Growing awareness of environmental issues will encourage builders and developers to make new homes ever greener in the coming years and decades. Queensberry Properties’ sales and marketing director, Hazel Davies, identifies four main areas by which tomorrow’s homes will reduce their envi

Beginning in late 2019, the Scotland Prevention Review Group has taken forward the work of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG) and the subsequent Scottish Government / COSLA Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan, to recommend new legal duties on councils and public bodies to

Steve Rolfe and Kim McKee (University of Stirling) present an overview of a new research report that they have produced, along with Tom Simcock, Julie Feather and Jenny Hoolachan, which considers what landlords can do to make their tenants feel more at home in the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

Building and protecting the resilience of our people, organisations and communities is likely to become central to what we all do, writes Scottish Housing Regulator chief executive Michael Cameron. It always seems to surprise how quickly at this time of year the daylight hours start to lengthen. But

Eileen Barr, a solicitor in TC Young’s Social Housing Team, outlines what can be learned from a recent decision notice by Scottish Information Commissioner on a Registered Social Landlord's (RSL's) handling of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The Scottish Information Commissioner (