‘It wasn’t only the US investment houses which were scenting opportunity. Indeed, it was a subsidiary of veteran (1908) Edinburgh-based asset management specialist Baillie Gifford, which became really excited.’ Pt 2 of David Black’s examination looks at Airbnb’s history and upcoming IPO…
Housing
Airbnb blitz is blighting cities
‘Nor is it all bad, by any means. Just as there were ‘good banks’ and ‘bad banks’ after the 2008 economic crash, so there is a ‘good’ Airbnb and a ‘bad’ Airbnb.’ But the bad outweighs the good, says the author
A way home for Scotland’s homeless young people
A message of hope for Christmas. Prevention is the new focus in efforts to reduce youth homelessness in Scotland via Housing First
Part Two: the council boards a runaway train
Edinburgh, once a working city, seems destined to become a tourist theme park – that falls victim to the demise of cheap air travel…
TIAA: a global American invades Scotland
‘If subsidizing a rich US corporation amounted to an abuse of Scottish revenues, arguably it is even more serious that the government and local council forfeited their impartiality as planning authorities by buying into TIAA’s deal. They may even have breached EU State Aid rules..’
Agenda: end rough sleeping crisis
‘we must hope that … investment of public resource is directed toward what is known to be effective: rapid access to affordable housing together with person-centred support that is available for as long as it is needed.’
Drugs, poverty and entertainment
Why are there so many deaths from drugs in Scotland? We know all the standard answers but maybe, too, the creative sector has a part to play? Part One of two
The tangled history of Edinburgh St James
‘So St. James Square remained the province of a handful of small businesses and workshops and 3,700 or so of Edinburgh’s lower orders and their exploitative, ever-neglectful landlords. The long decline of James Craig’s tenement buildings continued. Rack followed ruin and ruin begat rack.’
Help to build – with Scottish taxpayers’ cash
Confidential document from housing industry lobby group reveals underspent funds will be spent on the controversial Help-to-Buy scheme
Tackling Scotland’s poverty crisis
‘When the UK government reneged on the Child Poverty Act 2010 with its goal of eradicating child poverty in the UK by 2020, Scotland dissented and set about introducing an equivalent goal for Scotland.’