Shelter Scotland

A free online resource giving tenants and landlords a comprehensive guide to private renting in Scotland was officially relaunched yesterday following a total overhaul. RentingScotland.org has been redeveloped and launched by Shelter Scotland following a funding award of £43,500 from SafeDeposits S

Image courtesy of the Rock Trust Grants totalling £1.6 million will fund innovative services aimed at tackling homelessness and improving housing, particularly for the most vulnerable.

Lisa Glass Shelter Scotland policy officer Lisa Glass looks at what the year ahead holds in store for housing in Scotland.

Assistant Manager Laura McGarvey models a warrior costume Today’s the day that the discerning charity shop bargain-hunter makes their way to the doors of Shelter Scotland’s store in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge.

Councillor Judy Hamilton signs-up to Far From Fixed with Fiona King, campaigns manager at Shelter Scotland Fife Council has become the first local authority in Scotland to sign-up to a major national campaign aimed at tackling homelessness.

Critics of the Scottish Help to Buy scheme have called for the policy to be scrapped after an investigation revealed just three high volume housebuilders have received around £189 million in subsidised mortgages between them. Freedom of information (FOI) data obtained by investigatory journalism pl

Shelter Scotland campaigners in Glasgow yesterday As the annual festive season accelerates toward fever-pitch, Shelter Scotland is warning that for many people in Scotland, Christmas and New Year will bring very little comfort and joy and that unless homelessness is fixed it will become an all too f

Sweeping new private renting laws that will significantly affect the rights of Scotland’s 760,000 private renters come into force today. In the biggest change to the private rental sector in a generation, from today December 1st 2017, anyone signing a new tenancy for a private let will sign the ne

Graeme Brown The director of housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, Graeme Brown, has raised concerns over the future sustainability of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) after new figures revealed that the average value of payments made via the scheme has increased by more than 25%.

Legal aid spending in housing cases, such as evictions due to rent or mortgage arrears, can generate a return which benefits both the recipient and wider society, new research found. Legal aid can help meet the costs of legal advice, family mediation and representation in a court or tribunal for peo

The UK government has announced significant changes to Universal Credit including scrapping the seven day waiting period before a person can apply. In the Autumn Budget announcement yesterday Chancellor Philip Hammond responded to the increasing pressure from MPs, charities and the housing sector by

Rosemary Brotchie Shelter Scotland’s Rosemary Brotchie responds to new statistics which revealed a rise in private sector rents across the country.

Shaheena Din, SEHP national manager and Scots Makar Jackie Kay Scots Makar Jackie Kay MBE has written a new poem about Scotland’s empty homes.

A previously empty home in North Lanarkshire Housing minister Kevin Stewart will today reaffirm the Scottish Government’s commitment to double the money available for work that helps bring long-term, privately-owned empty homes back into use.

Concerns have been raised that more people could lose their homes after the cost of a typical two-bed private rental property rose by 4.4% in the last year. Nationally the average rent on a two-bed property is £643 this year up from £616 in 2016 and the charity says that people will struggle to co