Tag: housing

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There have now been 5 tower block fires in Scotland since 2000 and none have gone up like Grenfell – here’s why, for the 5th time

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Professor John Robertson OBA Notice anything about that tower block fire? No towering inferno, again From BBC Glasgow & West yesterday: A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a fire in a flat at a tower block in Coatbridge. Two people were treated by ambulance crews following the blaze at Calder Court in Whifflet which was reported at about 06:45. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said crews in 11 fire engines and one height vehicle were working to extinguish the fire. A spokesperson said: “Two casualties are in the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service and crews … Continue reading There have now been 5 tower block fires in Scotland since 2000 and none have gone up like Grenfell – here’s why, for the 5th time

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13 000 privately owned empty homes brought back into use by Scottish Government portal

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Professor John Robertson OBA From Finding new owners for empty homes published yesterday: A new online portal has been launched to bring empty homeowners together with prospective buyers or developers with the aim of facilitating more properties to be used as homes again.  Covering the whole of Scotland, this builds on the success of local pilots, referred to as “matchmaker schemes”, which allow owners of empty homes to upload details of their properties to a website through which anyone, such as first time buyers, families, developers or local authorities, can make purchasing enquiries.    The portal is hosted by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership and has been developed as part of a £2 million investment this year to recruit additional empty homes officers and fund initiatives that will accelerate the pace and … Continue reading 13 000 privately owned empty homes brought back into use by Scottish Government portal

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Scottish Government’s one-year 26% increase in funding for affordable (70% social) housing is not dramatic enough to mention it seems

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political parties to commit to urgent housing justice ahead of next years Holyrood election. A joint manifesto from the Everyone Home group will be launched at Scotland’s Annual Homelessness conference, which begins in Pert today…….calling for a dramatic increase in social housing. Professor John Robertson OBA Not mentioned, in the above BBC Scotland broadcast today: The Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) budget will increase by 26% in real terms to £768 million in 2025-26. This will support the delivery of at least 8,000 new affordable homes including for social rent, mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership. nor This will support … Continue reading Scottish Government’s one-year 26% increase in funding for affordable (70% social) housing is not dramatic enough to mention it seems

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Scotland builds far more affordable housing than England and far far more than Labour ever did but Shelter Scotland is back to suggest Scottish Government failure

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Professor John Robertson OBA How do Scotland and England compare in terms of affordable housing? Scotland generally provides more affordable housing per capita than England, particularly in terms of social housing and overall supply relative to population. Here’s a concise comparison based on available data: Supply of Affordable Housing: Scotland has consistently outperformed England in delivering affordable homes per head of population. Between 2007-08 and 2022-23, Scotland delivered an average of 14.2 affordable homes per 10,000 people annually, compared to 9.8 in England. In 2022-23, Scotland completed 10,458 affordable homes (19.1 per 10,000 people), while England’s rate was 11.3 per 10,000. https://www.gov.scot/publications/quarterly-housing-statistics-march-2024/pages/housing-supply-including-affordable-across-the-uk/ Social … Continue reading Scotland builds far more affordable housing than England and far far more than Labour ever did but Shelter Scotland is back to suggest Scottish Government failure

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Contrary to the Herald scare and tasteless images Scotland provides far more accommodation for the homeless than Welsh Labour or Birmingham City Labour and 50 times more than Scottish Labour ever did

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Support Talking-up Scotland’s work to counter the lies and get you the facts, daily, at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald has an exploitative image of someone on the streets for their story today. This does not represent the vast majority of the ‘homeless’ who are in temporary accommodation. Martin Williams in the Herald this morning has: Scotland’s housing emergency: Why can’t ministers fix it? Scotland has lost nearly 90,000 private rental homes since before the pandemic, deepening a housing emergency that sees more than 40,000 homelessness applications every year. New figures show landlords are quitting the market at a rate … Continue reading Contrary to the Herald scare and tasteless images Scotland provides far more accommodation for the homeless than Welsh Labour or Birmingham City Labour and 50 times more than Scottish Labour ever did

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One more time – flammable cladding is not that dangerous if……

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Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve been constructing this ‘tower of knowledge‘ for years now and virtually nobody, including the Scottish Government, seems be even aware of it. Based on the expert advice of a reader of TuS and a retired architect, as I understand it, flammable cladding is not dangerous enough, on its own, to cause a towering inferno and the deaths of hundreds, IF you have cavity fire barriers preventing the fire from spread from floor to floor, due to a chimney effect as happened in Grenfell. This fact is proven by four recent tower block fires in Scotland … Continue reading One more time – flammable cladding is not that dangerous if……

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‘Millionaire ‘Sir’ Tom Hunter gets it wrong by urging Scotland to emulate Singapore!

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By JB So Tom hunter, the businessmen, has urged the Scottish Government to emulate Singapore by cutting tax and red tape in an effort to reverse what he described as “managed decline”. He also said that “If we can get better wealth creators to Scotland, they will create the jobs, they will pay more tax, not because of the rate, because of the take.” Millionaire urges Scotland to emulate Singapore to reverse ‘managed decline’ | STV News  Managed decline? On the former according to the database numbeo.com comparing Singapore to Glasgow ( it doesn’t let you put in Scotland) we … Continue reading ‘Millionaire ‘Sir’ Tom Hunter gets it wrong by urging Scotland to emulate Singapore!

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The Herald’s reporting on homes is ‘Not fit for trust’ and ‘well below a tolerable standard’ as proper researchers find 90% of Scottish homes entirely free of damp

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Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today: More than 700,000 Scottish homes are classed as not fit for habitation – with 600,000 more properties registered as below a legal tolerable standard since the pandemic, The Herald can reveal. Official surveys carried out for the Scottish Government show that in 2023, the number of Scots properties falling below the ‘tolerable standard’ in order to be fit for habitation has shot up from an estimated 54,000 (2%) in 2018 to 729,000 (27%) in 2023. The report is keen to link the above figures to child deaths: OMG, we think, until we … Continue reading The Herald’s reporting on homes is ‘Not fit for trust’ and ‘well below a tolerable standard’ as proper researchers find 90% of Scottish homes entirely free of damp

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Exodus of the landlords? How the Herald today forgets what happened the last time

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The Herald, above today. Back in September 2022, from TuS reader Anonymous: BBC Scotland was broadcasting on behalf of the landlords to undermine the SNP rent freeze plan. At the time, the Guardian had a better perspective: Selling up and raising rents: how landlords are cashing in and exacerbating the cost of living crisis https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/31/britain-tenants-renters-landlords-profit So how big is the sell-up? Timothy Douglas, Propertymark’s Head of Policy and Campaigns, has  given evidence to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee of the Scottish Parliament warning of the impact of proposed legislation to limit rent increases and evictions on the supply … Continue reading Exodus of the landlords? How the Herald today forgets what happened the last time

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‘Disaster’: Call to fire disgusting Herald writer as number of Scots children in temporary accommodation remains far below level in England and is growing three times less quickly

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By Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald today has this tasteless and inaccurate view of a ‘homeless’ child. ‘Disaster’: Call to fire housing minister as number of Scots homeless children soars – Calls have been made for the housing minister to be fired as the number of children in temporary accommodation has hit record levels – shooting up by over 14% in two years. Homeless does not mean on the street. It means in temporary accommodation meeting basic standards. The Herald is trying to shock you with this image. From STV, under another poverty porn image, today: The number of children living … Continue reading ‘Disaster’: Call to fire disgusting Herald writer as number of Scots children in temporary accommodation remains far below level in England and is growing three times less quickly