Ross Greer MSP, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, thinks I'm "super-rich" as the owner of a small (50m2) second home (lodge) overlooking Loch Earn. “All over Scotland people are being priced out of the communities they’ve grown up in, all while tens of thousands of homes sit empty for most of the year. They are being hoarded by a small number of wealthy people who clearly do … [Read more...] about Build, baby, build
Housing
Strangled by the purse strings
Eyes are on the UK Budget at the moment, and for good reason, but shortly after that we’re going to see what the Scottish Government lays out in its own budget and, given the scope of devolution, that is likely to have much more of an impact on Scottish public services – especially at a local level. This means that recent news from Shona Robison telling Local Authorities that … [Read more...] about Strangled by the purse strings
The paradox of Scotland’s ‘Gold Coast’
Some folk are calling it “the Gold Coast”, the sandy, occasionally palm-fringed shores of the northwest Highlands. It certainly lived up to the billing on a bright spring day last week when I headed over to Gairloch to meet parents from the Save Our Rural Schools campaign. It is a paradox that this area has both a problem with depopulation and soaring house prices. Surely … [Read more...] about The paradox of Scotland’s ‘Gold Coast’
Tweaking council tax won’t solve its fundamental flaws
On Wednesday, the Scottish Government and COSLA released their anticipated (and widely leaked) consultation on Council Tax changes. The proposals set out would see a repeat of the 2017 increases in band multipliers for properties in Band E – H with the consultation seeking views on whether the changes to the mulitpliers should be higher or lower, or not happen at all. . Table … [Read more...] about Tweaking council tax won’t solve its fundamental flaws
Gulliver’s foot and art’s redemptive power
“I met a traveller from an antique land,Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. . . . nothing beside remains…“OzymandiasI went on a hunt for Gulliver’s foot today - it is all that remains of a gigantic statue by the sculptor and former convict Jimmy Boyle, in a park near the housing schemes of Edinburgh’s Craigmillar and … [Read more...] about Gulliver’s foot and art’s redemptive power