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 series with a discussion on increased rights for private tenants and, arguably the most contentious proposal, rent controls. In previous episodes, we’ve heard tenants' union Living Rent say rent controls are absolutely vital to keep rents affordable and prevent people being priced out from living in Sco ..read more

"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 homes and other buildings is now banned in Scotland. Effectively, this means any new build applying for a building warrant will not be able to use polluting heating systems like oil and gas boilers and instead be powered by alternatives like heat pumps and heat networks. But, how do these clean heating systems operate? And ..read more

Almost a year since Scotland appointed its first dedicated housing minister, three councils have declared housing emergencies due to mounting pressures in their local housing systems and dozens of others could be set to follow. Now housing bodies across Scotland are making a concerted effort to say that it's not just individual regions that are struggling but that the entire country is in the midst of an emergency. But what is a housing emergency and why is a declaration important? Joining Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black to discuss their respective situations and whether they think the Scottish ..read more

Fresh from being recognised by CIH Scotland with a Lifetime Achievement award for having gone the extra mile during his career, Grampian Housing Association chief executive Craig Stirrat joins Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black to talk about his 40 years in housing so far and the current challenges facing the housing sector. Hear Craig's views on housing as a career, the cost-of-living crisis, Grampian Housing Association's future development plans and much more. Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany the episode here: https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/blacks-blog-talking-stock-t ..read more

With Reidvale Housing Association currently considering its options after shareholders voted against a proposed transfer of engagements to Place for People Scotland, Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black reflect on some of the issues that have been raised so far.  They spoke to Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who was a prominent part of the campaign against the transfer and raised concerns about the process with the Scottish Parliament’s housing committee. Paul shares those concerns, laments the loss of community-controlled housing associations more widely and sets out measures that he believes ..read more

Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black step outside the Scottish social housing bubble to consider the impact of housing design in the aftermath of a disaster. Earlier this year, architect and University of Dundee lecturer Laurence Wood took a group of Year 5 Architecture students to Turkey, which had just suffered from a terrible earthquake, to live in rural camps and experience the challenges of displaced people.  Drawing on his experience of developing transitional housing in the Philippines and rebuilding New Orleans and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina, Laurance has been slowly develo ..read more

Kieran Findlay is joined by Steve Malone and Johnny Cadell, both principal architects at Architecture & Design Scotland, and Grant Baxter, the planning & building standards team leader at Clackmannanshire Council, to tell the story of a town centre development at Primrose Street in Alloa. Together they share their experiences of working to support the multi-generational housing project, explore the collaborative policy, design, community engagement and procurement processes involved in the journey and reveal how the project became a catalyst for regeneration not just in the town centre ..read more

It is difficult to remember a time when global, UK and national events have aligned so acutely to heap even more pressure on Scotland's local housing systems. Committed professional sectors from across the housing, homelessness and refugee sectors gathered at Scotland's Annual Homelessness Conference on October 31st to unlock solutions to these unprecedented challenges. So Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black packed up the recording equipment and headed to Perth Concert Hall for a special episode which captured the themes of the conference. Kieran chats to housing minister Paul McLennan about the ..read more

Scottish Housing Day took place last month to celebrate careers across housing by showcasing the variety of roles and routes into the sector and making the case for housing to be recognised as an important and valued career. But it also served to raise awareness of the need to replace a largely ageing workforce and  support the next generation of housing professionals to continue to meet the increased standards and challenges of the future. The housing sector employs tens of thousands of professionals, but there is no sector-wide strategy on recruitment, retention or talent development ..read more

While financial pressures have undoubtedly played a huge part in a slowdown of new homes being delivered, there is a strong sense among housebuilders that the planning process is also having a detrimental impact. A recent survey published by our sister publication Scottish Construction Now found that the statutory timeframe for the turnaround of planning applications is being routinely breached in Scotland, with readers blaming under-resourced planning departments and the implementation of NPF4 for increasing delays. To find out more, Jimmy Black and Kieran Findlay spoke to Janice Russell, the ..read more