“If we can get 90% of it right, I'd be delighted if somebody else came up with the other 10% and built on that. That's the history of social housing, right? Standing on the shoulders of giants and keeping getting better and better and better. We're just part of that chain.” Kieran Findla
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See all articlesJohn Hannigan, CEO of Circle Voluntary Housing Association and former chair of CIH Ireland’s Advisory Board, has been approved and appointed as chair of CIH’s governing board at the organisation’s sixtieth annual meeting on Monday 14 October. John takes over from Geraldine Howley O
Scottish Borders Housing Association (SBHA) has appointed Susan McDonald as its new director of customer services. An experienced housing professional with over 25 years in the sector, Susan brings a wealth of knowledge to the role, having worked as a solicitor specialising in social housing an
Bancon Group has reshaped its leadership team with several promotions and new appointments. As part of the new leadership structure, Bob McAlpine has been appointed executive chairman, while Andrew Tweedie takes on the newly created role of chief financial officer (CFO), overseeing all financia
Rural Stirling Housing Association (RSHA) has announced the election of its new chairperson. Killin resident Fiona Boath has taken on the most senior role on the Association’s board of management after a period as vice chairperson.
Caledonia Housing Association (CHA) has appointed two new executive directors to its leadership team. Jill Fraser has been appointed as executive director of operations and will oversee customer service, new build development, investment and regeneration, and support services. Jill joins CHA from Ma
Opinion
See all articlesFollowing a conversation with Simon Fitzpatrick for the Scottish Housing News Podcast, Jimmy Black thinks about wheels and lifts, beautiful new Blackwood Homes and folks stuck up thousands of tenement stairs. Wheels. Perhaps architects should have an app which lets them push a virtual pram through e
Continuing his dive into the main findings of the RentBetter research project led by Indigo House and funded by the Nationwide Foundation, Professor Douglas Robertson covers the failings found in how the Housing Tribunal engages with tenants and raises concerns about what the research found wit
Stewart Macleod, managing director of the property business within AtkinsRéalis, outlines the importance of responding to the Scottish Government's policy consultation on a Passivhaus equivalent standard. The Scottish Government’s Passivhaus equivalent policy is currently out for consul
As the Prospecthill Court Retrofit Project comes to an end, River Clyde Homes' head of energy & sustainability Duncan Smith shares the challenges and benefits of bringing multi-storey blocks up to a modern standard.
Following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017, the Grenfell Inquiry’s Final Report (also called the Phase 2 Report), was published in September. It paints a bleak picture of years of failures by government and others in the construction industry and calls for far-reaching reform
Housing Champions
See all articlesSHN's Housing Champions feature returns with Lorna Cameron, chief executive of Horizon Housing, who speaks to Margaret Taylor about the inextricable link between accessible housing and social care. It is almost 35 years since Lorna Cameron started her career at what was Strathclyde Regiona
Jimmy Black relives a few housing decades with Laurie Naumann, a campaigner on single homelessness, and a founder of Kingdom Housing Association. This is a story about Laurie Naumann, who recently retired after 44 years as a board member at Kingdom Housing Association. But it’s also a step bac
Jimmy Black cycled to Stornoway to meet Calum (Barney) MacKay, chair of TPAS Scotland and long-standing tenant activist. Barney is a trade unionist, and that explains a lot. Trades unions teach their active members how to do many useful things, including basic skills, like how to run a meeting or th
Jimmy Black meets the energetic Evie Copland, multi-award-winner and housing evangelist. “The biggest problem is … how do I change the world with this?” Evie Copland is finishing her Master's in Housing Studies, and she has been a distinguished student. In 2021 she won the Malcolm
Jimmy Black meets Bill Banks, retiring CEO of the multi award-winning Kingdom Group. Bill Banks looks relaxed, calm and entirely at home in his relatively modest office at Kingdom Housing Association. He’s a man at the height of his powers with a very solid track record of achievement. But Bil
Scottish Housing News Podcast
See all articles“If we can get 90% of it right, I'd be delighted if somebody else came up with the other 10% and built on that. That's the history of social housing, right? Standing on the shoulders of giants and keeping getting better and better and better. We're just part of that chain.” Kieran Findla
Below is a full transcript of episode 63 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Accessible housing (part 4) with Simon Fitzpatrick'. Listen to the episode here.
“Partnership work is about relationships, it's knowing people, it's understanding each of us have roles and responsibilities but keeping in mind what we're all trying to achieve at the end of the day and that's the outcomes for people that live in our communities to allow them to thrive and su
Below is a full transcript of episode 62 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Accessible housing (part 3) with Jacquie Pepper and Elaine Ritchie’. Listen to the episode here.
“If we don't grab and grab with both hands that prevention agenda, do more now, given we know what's coming our way from our demographics, then we are going to be in a much worse state than we are now in 10, 20 years time.” Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black continue their exploration of the
Black's Blog
See all articlesFollowing a conversation with Simon Fitzpatrick for the Scottish Housing News Podcast, Jimmy Black thinks about wheels and lifts, beautiful new Blackwood Homes and folks stuck up thousands of tenement stairs. Wheels. Perhaps architects should have an app which lets them push a virtual pram through e
Jimmy Black hears about some great work happening in Perth & Kinross; then thinks about people excluded from the housing market by high prices and poverty. We’re running out of words. We’ve used “housing emergency” to explain the failure of our housing markets to provide
Jimmy Black hopes Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs) will find inspiration at the Housing & Social Care Accessibility Summit, after a chat with Hanover Scotland's Angela Currie.
Jimmy Black thinks about wheelchairs, accessible houses, cycling on grass and a conversation with Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP.
Jimmy Black reflects on a conversation with Helen Murdoch from the Salvation Army and Janet Haugh from Right There.
Our Housing Heritage
See all articlesFor the next edition of Our Housing Heritage, journalist and digital history specialist Chris Holme shares the story of how First World War servicemen came to reside in the rural village of Longniddry. Unlikely as it sounds, the Longniddry Piggery provided Britain’s first purpose-built homes f
In the latest article in the ongoing Our Housing Heritage series, Scottish Housing News discusses the Glasgow Rent Strikes of 1915. In the absence of social housing, families across the UK in 1915 were at the mercy of private landlords who could hike rents and evict tenants at will with little restr
The Springburn office of ng homes is named after Ned Donaldson. But who was Ned Donaldson? Kieran Findlay recalls the contribution of the activist and the post-war battle to stop the privatisation of council housing at Merrylee. It was a cold sleety December day in 1951. Slum landlordism and sublett
Duncan Smith, who works in the social housing sector, has contributed this piece as part of his quest for more information about housing architect George Gibson. Several years ago, just after starting my current job, I undertook some research on the properties we were refurbishing at the time. I fou
Next month marks the centenary of Scotland’s first council housing estate, the Logie Estate in Dundee. Lauren Brown reports.
Fuel Poverty
See all articlesIn partnership with gas distribution network SGN, Changeworks has launched a new one-of-a-kind service for housing associations in Scotland to provide easy access to energy advice for their tenants.
The Ofgem Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme opened for applications yesterday with its largest funding round since the scheme was established.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) in partnership with HACT has released the evaluation report into its Fuel Support Fund from 2021-2024 which demonstrates the significant impact the Fund has had on social housing tenants across Scotland, generating over £37.5 million in s
The annual Park Homes Warm Home Discount Scheme run by Charis is now open. Permanent park home and static caravan residents across England, Scotland and Wales can apply for a £150 payment to help towards their energy costs. The Charis Park Homes Warm Home Discount is an Ofgem-regulated, multi-
The latest spike in energy bills takes effect today due to changes to the Ofgem price cap, with a 10% increase for the average household.
Homelessness
See all articlesThis World Homeless Day, Shelter Scotland has urged First Minister John Swinney to show Scotland’s 10,110 homeless children the money when it comes to prevention. The charity said that the new prevention duties set out in the housing bill currently before the Scottish Parliament would leave co
The founder of Social Bite has called for greater support for students at risk of homelessness as the charity launched a series of cafes in universities and colleges across the UK. A new partnership will see Social Bite-branded cafes serve coffee supplier Matthew Algie's Elevator blend, with around
The disproportionate impact of the housing emergency on women, and the additional barriers they face in accessing safe, secure, affordable, housing, have been highlighted in a new report published today by Shelter Scotland and Engender.
Transport and waste management organisation Gogar Services is providing waterproof care packages for homeless veterans as part of Aberdeenshire Council’s contract and tendering process. Gogar Services worked with the Knights Templar Goodwill Charity of Scotland to put together packages t
New figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government yesterday have shown that the number of households facing homelessness in England has exceeded (320,000) between 2023-2024, the highest on record.
PRS
See all articlesContinuing his dive into the main findings of the RentBetter research project led by Indigo House and funded by the Nationwide Foundation, Professor Douglas Robertson covers the failings found in how the Housing Tribunal engages with tenants and raises concerns about what the research found wit
Edinburgh letting agent Clan Gordon has been shortlisted in two categories at The Negotiator Awards 2024. Competing for both the Regional – Scotland and Lettings Agency of the Year (Medium) awards, this recognition highlights Clan Gordon’s dedication to excellence in property management
Edinburgh-based property expert Ben Di Rollo and businessman Ronnie Napier have co-founded a new residential property agency which has pledged to bring an innovative, client-focused approach to residential property sales and new build marketing services.
The City of Edinburgh Council has become the first local authority to back a motion in support of rent controls since the introduction of the Scottish Government's new Housing Bill.
Professor Douglas Robertson continues his dive into the main findings of the RentBetter research project led by Indigo House and funded by the Nationwide Foundation. The RentBetter research shows that changing the legal basis of the tenancy has resulted in the majority of tenants feeling safe and se
Welfare
See all articlesFamilies getting a Scottish benefit to help them buy healthy foods are being urged to check their balance on their prepaid card. Best Start Foods, a payment of up to £42.40 every four weeks, helps eligible pregnant women, parents, families and carers with children under the age of three
More than 200,000 disabled adults have now had their benefit award transferred to Social Security Scotland from the Department for Work and Pensions, new figures show. Almost two thirds (63%) of adults in Scotland who were previously getting Personal Independence Payment are now receiving Adult
Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has written to secretary of state for work and pensions Liz Kendall to urge the UK Government to reverse the cut to Winter Fuel Payment. Ms Somerville called on the UK Government to take action to address the root causes of fuel poverty and volatile e
The UK Government has been urged to assess the "inadequacy and volatility" of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the wake of new private rent inflation figures.
In excess of 26,000 customers were assisted by the Highland Council’s Welfare Support Team and Citizens Advice during 2023/24 for support with welfare, debt and housing issues. As a result, financial gains for clients exceeded £26.8 million, representing a £17.32 return for every &