Scotland has a housing crisis. That phrase is regularly articulated by politicians and commentators. There is a consensus that Scotland needs more new homes – but only recently the issue of our existing housing stock has come to the fore.
The most-recent housing condition survey shows that 68% of all dwellings having some degree of disrepair. Disrepair to critical elements stood at 50%, while 28% of dwellings had some instance of urgent disrepair, and 5% had some extensive disrepair. These figures have not moved in a year.
Throughout Scotland nearly 20 per cent of all our housing is pre-1919 – that’s 467,000 homes. 68 per cent of those have disrepair to critical elements and 36 per cent have critical and urgent repair needs. Many of these are tenements and they are at a condition cliff edge. A report to Glasgow councillors last year highlighted repair bills to some blocks reached well into six figures – sums that are simply unaffordable to most people.
We need to develop a system which sees essential repairs being done. That is why MSPs of all parties formed a Tenement Maintenance Working Group, along with key stakeholders, to develop policies that we can suggest to government. As Convenor of this Group I have been involved putting together our interim report which sets out a number of recommendations. This report is the outcome of our group’s work and I am grateful to everyone involved for their contributions. The report has warned that the condition of many Scottish tenements are on a "cliff-edge".
The recommendations on how to address the problem include inspections every five years and creating a communal tenement "pension" fund for future repairs. The interim report also calls for the compulsory establishment of owners' associations. The recommendations are draft proposals which can now be subject to scrutiny. Some of our ideas will change as a result of that. The finalised report will be published in the summer.
What we are all clear about is that action is needed, however difficult it is for MSPs and the Scottish Government. I look forward to sending our final conclusions to the SNP Government. All Scots have a right to live in a warm and safe environment – with a roof over their head.
I was shocked to hear the reports regarding the death of patients at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. The death of patients, including a child, after inhaling fungus linked to pigeon droppings is appalling – this should never happen.
This tragedy was exacerbated by the revelation that the number of maintenance staff within the health board has dropped nearly 20 per cent since 2009. We need action and full transparency from the SNP to ensure that public confidence in hospitals can be rebuilt.
