Kieran Findlay

Tenants' rights minister Patrick Harvie has announced that he intends to cap private sector rents at 3% and that evictions will continue to be prevented for all tenants except in a number of specified circumstances from April.

The enhanced eviction protections currently in place across both the social rented sector and private rented sector (PRS) are to remain in place after the end of March when the rent cap will also continue but only for the PRS, the Scottish Government has announced.

An agreed definition of a Scottish equivalent of the Passivhaus standard which will become the minimum for all new housing in the country is to be the subject of consultation between the Scottish Government and the building industry, Patrick Harvie has confirmed. Last month, the

A pilot project to encourage property owners to sell directly to the local authority in a bid to ease housing pressures in the Highlands and prevent second-home owners from letting out their homes on Airbnb was the most read story on Scottish Housing News in the past year.

The Scottish Government has decided not to extend rent controls for social housing providers beyond March 2023 with social landlord representatives bodies announcing their members’ plans for below-inflation rent increases for the next financial year. COSLA has issued a statement of intent whic

SHN editor Kieran Findlay finds out how the escalating energy crisis is affecting the sector and how associations are responding. Skyrocketing energy costs and inflation are directly impacting the operations of housing associations across Scotland with increased overheads forcing delays to maintenan

Emergency legislation that will give ministers temporary power to cap rents for private and social tenants, as well as for student accommodation, and introduce a moratorium on evictions has been approved by MSPs. The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Bill faced a final vote

Emergency legislation to freeze rents has been the first piece of Scottish legislation to be vetted by King Charles as it passed the first stage of scrutiny at the Scottish Parliament yesterday. A motion to treat the Cost of Living (Protection of Tenants) (Scotland) Bill 2022 as emergency legis

Housing associations have joined letting agents and bodies in expressing fears that the Scottish Government’s rent freeze proposals, which are being introduced to the Scottish Parliament today, will “jeopardise” affordable housebuilding and result in a reduction in the nu

Stricken construction firm Central Building Contractors (CBC) has been ordered to pay compensation to a former member of staff after a tribunal found the company breached employment regulations. The family-run company was placed into administration in April 2020 following years of “c

Housing associations are "extremely worried" about the "alarming" prospect of being unable to maintain and upgrade their homes should the Scottish Government impose a rent freeze beyond March next year. A combined rent freeze and moratorium on evictions to help people through the cost cris

LAR Housing Trust has applied for permission to remove the façade of a listed Glasgow building undergoing redevelopment after revealing the structure cannot be saved due to safety grounds. The housing charity was granted permission last year for 37 mid-market rent flats at the old I

The Scottish Government has been accused of "whitewashing" the issue of rent control in its summary of responses to its New Deal for Tenants consultation. In December last year, the Scottish Government invited comments to A New Deal for Tenants - draft rented sector strategy: consultation, which see

Dundee-based contractor McGill has officially entered administration for the second time in less than four years. Filings at Companies House show the company, lately registered as McGill Facilities Management Ltd, appointed an administrator on August 25th.

The UK Government's plan to extend the Right to Buy (RTB) their home to all housing association tenants in England is a "retrograde step" that could erode the supply of affordable housing, it has been warned.