Opinion

Accountant Stuart Beattie sets out the key challenges of rising costs, sustainability investment requirements and a demand for more stock that are currently facing housing associations. Last week I attended the annual Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) Finance Conference. The ev

In the wake of Homes for Scotland's annual conference and ahead of next month's Scottish Budget, chief executive Jane Wood repeats the trade body's call for local authorities to be adequately resourced to deliver much-needed new homes. Last week, Homes for Scotland held its annual conference in

Caitriona Jordan, head of retrofit at Built Environment Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Sara Edmonds, head of citizen engagement at BE-ST, and co-director of the National Retrofit Hub (NRH), and Rachael Owens, co-director of NRH, share their insights from the International Retrofit Conference. As th

Jimmy Black ponders on placemaking, and a 20 minute neighbourhood which is 864 years old When I think about it, I grew up in a perfect ‘place’. In our burgh of 2,000 people there were shops … an ironmonger, draper, newsagent, three butchers, two bakers, one fishmonger, one shoe sh

Albyn Housing Society chief executive Kirsty Mor­ri­son shares why there will always be a place for housing associations. Housing, for most of us, is one of the very few constants in our lives. Our home plays host to some of the happiest moments in our lives, provides us with fundamenta

To mark Trustee Week (Nov 6-10), Home in Scotland board member June Wylie explains what attracted her to a housing association board and why she would recommend it to others, regardless of what sector you have experience in. When I was retiring in 2021 after 40 years in the NHS, lots of people asked

Janet Haugh, chief executive of Right There, discusses the recent headlines about homelessness in Scotland. Homelessness has been a hot topic in the news in recent days with Edinburgh becoming the second local authority in Scotland to officially declare a housing emergency, while Scotland’s Ch

Professor Ken Gibb, director and principal investigator, and Professor Alex Marsh, co-investigator of CaCHE, reflect on the new Scottish rent control proposals. In September 2023, the Scottish Government launched a consultation engagement process concerned with the rented sector proposals within the

Jimmy Black thinks the rest of us have a lot to learn from Perth & Kinross, and Aberdeenshire. Let’s ask a hard question. Why is homelessness so low in Perth & Kinross when over in West Dunbartonshire it’s very high? Why are the figures in Aberdeenshire so much better than they a

In a Scottish Housing News exclusive, Ben Glennon, associate architect at Aitken Turnbull discusses how architects can play a key role in lessening the hardships of living with dementia. The number of adults living with dementia and other cases of cognitive ageing worldwide is expected to increase f

Affordable, scalable retrofit can be achieved in a way that gives financial power to communities and transforms them for the better according to Rufus Grantham, co-founder at not-for-profit community interest corporation Living Places. Writing ahead of BE-ST Fest, a two-day industry summit taking pl

Property membership body Propertymark argues that the Scottish Government should utilise empty homes, infrastructure and tourism experts to increase the number of homes in rural areas.

Duncan Bauchop delves into the repercussions of recent legislative changes in Scotland's private rental sector, discussing how emergency provisions and impending long-term rent controls are impacting landlords and tenants, potentially eroding the housing base. On 2nd June 2020, residents of Eas

What is a housing professional and how do you become such a thing? Jimmy Black tries to think like a 17-year-old school leaver.

Citizens Advice Scotland has said landlords are flouting a law that is intended to stop them evicting tenants and imposing large rent increases. Writing in The Herald, CAS Housing spokesperson Aoife Deery elaborates. Last month the Scottish Parliament voted to extend the cap on rent increases and li