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Under a tasteless example of a poverty porn photograph of a street beggar, the Guardian editorial has:
Rough sleeping in Scotland has risen by 106% over the past three years. Record numbers of children are now living in temporary accommodation, official figures released this month show. In Glasgow, the city council leader warned last year that the authority had run out of temporary housing. This looks like a system approaching crisis point.
The paradox is that Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness protections in Europe. More than a decade ago, the Scottish parliament abolished the “priority need” test, creating a statutory duty on councils to secure permanent accommodation for all unintentionally homeless applicants. The charity Shelter considered Scotland to have had “the best homelessness law in Europe”. But having a legal right to a home doesn’t mean having a home.
The trouble is that social and affordable housing supply has failed to keep pace with need – and temporary accommodation has become a bottleneck. People who have been put up in hotel rooms and B&Bs have no way of leaving due to high rents and a lack of social homes. As councils exhaust their options, rough sleeping begins to rise.
Welfare powers are largely reserved to Westminster. But building social homes is a devolved responsibility – leaving the Scottish National party, which has governed from Edinburgh since 2007, exposed. It has responded with plans for a new national housing agency to address criticism that the real failure here is housing supply.
Typically, with a Guardian report on Scotland, it fails to do any research on affordable house building in Scotland or to then put that in context.
Here it is:
For 2025, the SNP Government has funded 5 313 new affordable home starts to a level down from a peak of 11 158 in 2021 but above the level before 2014 and still almost twice that of the last Labour government in Scotland, only 3 100.
AND:
According to the latest official statistics from the Scottish Government, as reported in the Quarterly Housing Statistics update to June 2025, Scotland has delivered a total of 140,346 affordable homes since 2007. This includes 100,064 homes for social rent, with the rest for other affordable rent and ownership options. These figures reflect government-supported completions through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and other initiatives, marking progress toward the current target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 (of which 29,680 have been completed so far). The data shows Scotland leading the UK in affordable housing delivery per head of population since 2007, with over 40% more than England and 70% more than Wales.
See that 140 346 above?
The iNews and the Herald in October 2025, had these:
So, UK Labour giving up and SNP target exceeded already?
Sources:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/quarterly-housing-statistics-september-2025/documents/
Scottish Government Housing Statistics (New Housebuilding and AHSP Tables, historical series from 2000–2025)
https://www.gov.scot/collections/housing-statistics/
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Talking-up Scotland 
Thatcher sold off council/social housing estate in the 1980s. Labour could have reversed that with their landslide majority after 1997. They didn’t.
But typical of The Guardian to be shilling for the Labour Party as if they are not Tories.
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G Caldow
How do people like Trump, Farage connect with the proverbial man in the street? They don’t use Political speak to mask obvious issues.
This report and many on housing talk about “Affordable” as though that means anything. If I earn a million, a 2 million home is Affordable!
When I bought my home in the early 80’s, affordable was defined as 2.5 times your salary, maybe some squeezed to three. So if todays average wage is £33000 an affordable home is be generous £100000. How many are available for that price.
Today, however, affordable is not measured in that way. Affordable is taking the RENT people are able/prepared to pay and looking at what that will afford to buy. It doesn’t mean the house is the correct type for if the equation equals a two bedroom, then many two bedrooms will be built in that area. Tough if you need three or four or prefer a house to a flat.
Politicians can speak about building those Affordable homes while people struggle to get a home suitable for their needs. While we don’t build Social Housing in the quantity we need, we need to ensure those that are being built are suitable, not just a box.
My village has a design plan to add 200 homes. This may well remove the waiting lists but as the timescale is 20 YEARS, I doubt it.
Our national infrastructure is a disgrace and Housing is part of the problem as we have no proper direction to build properly and appropriately.
If only we had some leaders not managers in the Independence Movement who could break the mould, inspire new methods and aa direction which not only resonates with the public but shows the pragmatic skillset to achieve it. Salmond’s first term showed some of that but latterly the managers have been in charge.
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According to an HMRC report last year Scotland had a net immigration of approximately 14,000 people from england now paying tax in Scotland. Many of these people will be married with children. How is the Scottish government expected to build houses for such high numbers
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It’s more likely they are well off and buying up properties galore. Properties for sale in Edinburgh mostly sell like hot cakes and they are not cheap, some are left empty, some short term lets (far too many!).
LabTory council just borrowed £2billion no idea why, and they are though wrecking the city and had removed access to social housing (not sure if that’s still in place) even for homeless people and then they say there’s a housing ‘crisis’, boo hoo bad nasty SNP! Sigh.
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Talking of housing………
Did anyone see what was missing in all of today’s news reports on the police searches into the former residency (housing) of the Royal formerly known as a Prince, that is Andrew double barrelled surname?
Clue: something you camp in and a variation of the same colour as the Tory party logo.
Yep I could not see any ‘Blue tents’ in the media coverage of the Police searches today of the former residency of the Royal formerly known as a Prince, that is Andrew double barrelled surname.
Of course will they, the Police, find anything incriminating?
Sure someone at some point may allege that there could have been a tip off prior to the Police searches , so there may be a possibility that not much of relevance may be found in these Police searches, all of course to try to minimise the damage for the English Royal family.
Also some posho (female) being interviewed on BBC News today stated that the Royal family did “not know the extent of the friendship that the Royal, formerly known as a Prince, that is Andrew double barrelled surname, had with Epstein.
That then raises other concerns surely.
I mean what security did the Royal family have when Epstein was a guest at Royal residencies (houses) and so then did no one in the Royal Family’s Security check him , Epstein, out ?
Are we expected to believe that not one member of the Royal family knew that he . Epstein, had had an invite from a member of the Royal family to their Royal residencies (Houses) ?
Also did the Royal formerly known as a Prince, that is Andrew double barrelled surname, just , in the past, swan off to New York to visit Epstein and then stay at his house and neither the security attached to the Royal family nor any members of the Royal family knew of this , or indeed knew who Epstein was (and also what he had been charged with) ?
There is a lack of credibility that we , the public, are all supposed to factor in with this Royal (latest) scandal connected to a family at the top of the British (English) establishment………
The brother who is King to the person formerly known as a Prince, is willing to throw his own brother under the Bus to try to distance himself and his family from this scandal, though is adultery also not a scandal when one was formerly heir to the throne ?
King Charles III is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a constitutional role he assumed upon his accession in 2022.
So to listen to right wing politicians , who support the Monarchy and then they all speak of their British State as one that upholds “Christian values” and “Beliefs”.
Well pray tell me (pun intended) , where in their version of the Bible does it say one can commit adultery and then also eventually one can marry the woman that you committed adultery with and so then make her the Queen of your UK State, also one can amass a vast wealth but still expect the State that you are the Head of to supply you with a financial subsidy, also you can as a member of the Monarchy associate with Paedophiles and even be accused of committing acts against vulnerable females yourself as a member of the Monarchy ?
Big Q’s but will Farage, Rupert Lowe or indeed any of them want to go there , in them addressing all of that which we the public needs answers to , if as they declare, this UK State is a Christian country (State).
Christian – is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity. That then needs to follow certain Christian rules such as :
Moral living – Avoiding sexual immorality, pride, and the love of money.
Behavioural guidelines- Forgiving others, loving enemies, and caring for the vulnerable. ( “forgiving others” even those who will lie to save their own skin and even try to make you believe they do not sweat).
Of course Reform UK and also Restore Britain (to give an advantage to England) both fall down at the Christian hurdle, in that neither of them seem keen in either themselves or those who donate to them ever “avoiding the love of money” . As well as both Farage and Rupert Lowe falling down badly in showing any notion of them “caring for the vulnerable” .
(Examples being their endorsing and intending to implement Policies such as restoring the two child cap, cutting or impacting the minimum wage, being more brutal on welfare benefits).
So I guess “Christian values” for them is just another empty slogan.
Honestly the rot has always come from the head down, and who is it that is at the Head of the English aka British establishment ?
Who indeed……
In May it would be better if all voters in Scotland voted for an actual better future , as opposed to being taken in by empty slogans (Lies), slogans from those whose true motivation for us in Scotland is to ensure that our only future , as Scots, under their UK State, will be for us in Scotland to once again be (over) ruled by what will be a future totalitarian UK (English) government at WM.
Liz S
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Also interesting to note that neither Nigel Farage nor Rupert Lowe have posted anything (so far) today on what is the biggest story within the UK, that is the arrest of Andrew double barrelled surname.
Now that omission speaks volumes and is conspicuous by the absence of any acknowledgement from either of them that it , as a serious and scandalous incident, has happened.
Straight talking they both claim to be?
Up front they tell us that they both are?
Restoring Britain really?
Reforming the UK really?
Meanwhile the (English) family at the heart (and head) of their British State are in the midst of yet another major scandal, but the two Bobby Dancers who lead Reform UK & Restore Britain are too busy with other ‘matters’, that they both deem to be far more important for either of them to even have an opinion upon Andy’s arrest via their ‘X’ accounts.
Joke parties…….grievance mongers dressed up as party leaders….but ultimately just more spokesmen for the rich.
Also professional S*** stirrers , with much incitement of hate and division being their forte………also specialising in deflection, and too a huge lack of responsibility for the mess that exists within their Brexit UK and a tendency to blame everyone else (as in the innocents) for things that they others , as innocents, could not possibly be responsible for.
However people like Farage & Lowe (and others also , to include Tories who defected to both of their parties) will accept no blame as they , as party leaders, are both way too busy trying to create a (false) vision of a future fantasy UK with themselves at the helm. (also known as Hell on earth).
Nigel and Rupert , names that one could hardly associate with being anything but privileged……….trying to scrape their way up to the political top job , just to Make Britain Bad(der) Again ……….both of them English Nationalists that equate their Britain with being England.
They are the (metaphorical) bottom feeders that cause us , who all have the ability to use our brains and common sense , to feel despair and dejection at their promotion into mainstream politics.
(If only we had a real media in the UK and more so in Scotland, well currently that is only at the dream aka fantasy stage).
However they, Nigel and Rupert, have both been allowed to rise from the bottom by the likes of the Tory party and the Labour party………….as both, as traditional parties,. had one political job to do, and they both failed miserably .
So now some clueless and uninformed voters think that the best and only choice left for them, as voters in future elections , is now is to vote for Nigel and Rupert’s protest parties which will then apparently make them all real patriots…………taking back control of that which was never ******* lost so then will never be ******* found !
Oh but Scottish independence is X Y Z , as in #BAD , say all of the opponents of it…………compared to ******* what ?
Liz S.
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In the 1980’s the wife’s salary was not included in the mortgage calculation. It was expected that women could become pregnant and earn less. The wife’s/partners salaries is included now. Resulting in a higher mortgage allowance. Makes property prices more affordable.
Aberdeen N/E has a quarter of the total Scottish council houses lying empty. Losing £8Million in rent. Councils are not turning around houses quickly enough. Resulting in fewer being available.
The Scottish Gov is building or renovation 6 million affordable houses a year. Private builder build 17,000+ houses. Over 50,000 people die each year. There is enough accommodation but some houses are lying empty or in the wrong place.
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MORE OUTRIGHT LIES FROM ARSE LICKIN LABOUR
THE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES
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I mean ok but something more constructive using lower case would be more helpful
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