Ravenscraig Ltd director Russell Wilkie outlines his vision for the former steelworks in North Lanarkshire and the need to develop industrial communities. All across the UK, there are monuments to our industrial heritage. They remind us of the heavy industries that once helped power our country. Imp

Dr Adriana Mihaela Soaita, an honorary senior research fellow in the School of Social & Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow, delves into the intricate dynamics of tenant selection in Anglo-Saxon countries, contrasting it with Romania’s unregulated rental market and considering

Head of housing at Hardies Property & Construction Consultants, Michael Creech, has warned that Scotland’s affordable housing sector is facing its most challenging period in 40 years. The affordable housing sector has always had challenges to overcome, but this is the most difficult p

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

Fanchea Kelly has been at the centre of events in Scottish housing since the 1980s, and will soon leave Blackwood after a stellar career. Jimmy Black asked her to share some memories with Scottish Housing News. Over 9,000 miles from Scotland, Fanchea Kelly was sitting in an Australian radio studio i

Below is a full transcript of episode 55 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Housing Bill part 2: Homelessness prevention duties with Ewan Aitken’. Listen to the episode here.

With the long-awaited Housing Bill finally here, hosts Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black will dedicate the next four episodes to digest various elements of the legislation, including homelessness and domestic abuse, culminating in an interview with housing minister Paul McLennan. But we begin the serie

Below is a full transcript of episode 54 of the Scottish Housing News Podcast titled ‘Housing Bill part 1: Rent controls and tenants' rights with Dr John Boyle’. Professor Douglas Robertson also contributed to this episode, but we could not include his audio in the published recordi

"Technically heat networks aren't really difficult. It is just large-scale plumbing. The heat's already there, we're just moving it.” With the Scottish Government’s New Build Heat Standard now in force, the installation of ‘direct emission’ systems for heating for new build h

Jimmy Black considers rent controls and predicts that nothing will change.

“The heat’s already there, we’re just moving it”. Jimmy Black mulls over a conversation with Eoghan Maguire, director of heat networks - Scotland at Vattenfall UK. Getting people to work together is seldom easy, particularly when it involves money and hard decisions. It makes

Jimmy Black considers whether the social housing sector and the Scottish Government are effectively measuring the carbon cost of home improvements.

Jimmy Black is looking for credible solutions to Scotland's housing emergency and wants SHN readers to help.

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.

The bosses of two of the UK’s biggest energy companies have called for the introduction of a social energy tariff to help low-income households who are struggling to pay the bills.

People in Scotland have received more than £30 million via two Scottish Government benefits to help them deal with increased energy costs this winter, new statistics have shown.

Energy debt is becoming an increasing issue of concern for people in Scotland with nearly half of affected households not confident they can clear debts or arrears, new analysis has revealed. The latest Energy Affordability Tracker from Consumer Scotland shows the impact of increasing energy de

Kingdom Housing Association’s Tenancy Sustainment Team has delivered £50,000 worth of direct financial support to customers with fuel debts, providing a financial lifeline during the cost of living crisis.

A homelessness charity has ended its contract with the City of Edinburgh Council to provide critical housing in three locations for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. The project run by Right There provides two accommodation units in Pilton and one in Broomhouse, supportin

A coalition of organisations has congratulated Scotland’s new First Minister and urged him to focus his attention on repairing the social housing budget and on protecting duties to prevent homelessness.

Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black put the Holyrood turmoil to one side and continue their exploration of various elements of the Scottish Government’s new Housing Bill with a look at proposed new homelessness prevention measures. The legislation will introduce an ‘ask and act’ duty on

New plans to help support households worried about homelessness have been agreed by North Lanarkshire Council's housing committee.

Housing and property organisations are bracing themselves for policy changes after the Scottish Government’s formal co-operation agreement with the Scottish Green Party was brought to an end yesterday. First Minister Humza Yousaf formally informed Scottish Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and

With the long-awaited Housing Bill finally here, hosts Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black will dedicate the next four episodes to digest various elements of the legislation, including homelessness and domestic abuse, culminating in an interview with housing minister Paul McLennan. But we begin the serie

The Scottish Parliament's Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee and Social Justice and Social Security Committee have today jointly launched a new public consultation on the Scottish Government’s Housing (Scotland) Bill with a focus on homelessness and tenants' rights. The Bill cont

Govan Law Centre (GLC) has recorded a significant demand for housing law advice and representation services over the last six months. The number of type 3 housing cases – homeless, eviction and housing disrepair cases in courts or tribunals – increased by 112% between Quarter 3 (Q3), 1 O

Parents of disabled children are being urged to make sure they’re not missing out on vital financial support from the Scottish Government. Child Disability Payment is money to help families cover the extra costs of looking after a child or young person who is disabled, has a long-term health c

People in Scotland have received more than £30 million via two Scottish Government benefits to help them deal with increased energy costs this winter, new statistics have shown.

Pensioners in five Scottish local authorities will be the first in the country eligible for a new disability benefit, subject to parliamentary approval of regulations. From 21 October, Pension Age Disability Payment – the replacement for Attendance Allowance - will be piloted in Argyll & B

All disabled children and young people in Scotland who receive disability benefits will now be paid directly from Social Security Scotland. Those children and young people who receive Child Disability Payment will also benefit from a review system different to that of the wider UK, one based on dign