Readers' Letters: Hope at last of progress in Scotland’s housing crisis

His BBC interview with Martin Geissler on yesterday’s BBC Sunday Show set a high bar for the other guests. There was Jennifer Kennedy of Homes for Scotland, who not only applauded his work but must be wishing he's her boss, and Social Justice minister Shirley-Anne Somerville, who gave an almost convincing list of reasons and excuses – planning, money, councils, self-inflicted Net Zero obstacles – for their past 17 years of failure in control of the “levers”. She gave an equally almost convincing list of her ongoing endeavours to fix the problem.

I sincerely wish them all good luck and success

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Free stock

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, speaking on BBC’s Sunday Show, claimed that a 4 per cent cut in the capital budget from Westminster has led to a near £200 million (26 per cent) cut in the Scottish affordable housing budget, despite a self-declared housing crisis by her government.

As with the winter fuel payment withdrawal, the Scottish Government can choose whether to pass austerity on. It’s clear, however, that priorities lie in paying public sector workers, many of whom will enjoy inflation-busting pay increases and generous non-contributory pensions.

New low rent flats in the Gorbals for young “striving” professionals are not the answer for the 110,000 households on council waiting lists, nor for the majority seeking to get on the housing ladder, over 80 per cent of whom would rather own a home. Instead, part of the solution needs to focus on freeing up existing housing stock that is either lying empty or inefficiently used. In Edinburgh empty homes account for 7,000 units worth an estimated £1.8bn and there are nearly 100,000 empty units across Scotland. Edinburgh Council has permitted more than 3,000 new units on greenfield land near Hermiston and is set to approve 7,000 more for West Town near Edinburgh Airport. Like the Maybury developments these are on West Edinburgh greenfield sites and will impact on congestion and local services.

Edinburgh and Highland Council areas each include thousands of temporary holiday and poorly used second homes. Government should look to incentivise owners to sell to locals through higher taxation or work in partnership to free homes up for social use to be rented through the year, providing a steady income stream.

A crisis demands urgent action, not funding cuts and excuses about planning and environmental regulations. Instead of more new non-social housing few can afford, existing stock should be freed up for affordable housing.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Aid where needed

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is quite correct to reduce foreign aid from 0.7 per cent of GDP to 0.5 per cent, as many countries who receive aid do not need it.

India, for example, is sending rockets to the moon but ignores poverty on its doorstep, and the quickest way to get money into a Swiss bank is to send it to Africa, where corruption and terrorism are rampant.

Foreign aid is about need and the ability to get the aid to the people who are unable to look after themselves and their family. Aid therefore needs to be targeted and policed to ensure it goes to the correct locations and not to corrupt politicians. Foreign aid is aid, not gold watches and Swiss bank accounts.

James Macintyre, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Emerald Utopia?

“Ireland will run a €25 billion budget surplus this year” and “The budget included €8.3 billion in tax cuts and spending increases,” trumpets Alex Orr excitedly (Letters, 3 October). It’s easy for the emerald-tinted specs brigade to boast about Éire’s alleged superiority over Britain in support of their separatist views, but these misleading arguments are always based on highly selective facts.

The Irish have never had a socialist government, and at the core of their current success is aggressive market economics. In contrast, the quasi-Marxist SNP and fellow-travellers appear to be as ideologically opposed to tax cuts as they are to capitalism and private enterprise in general. Another reason for the country’s apparent wealth is the distorting effect of facilitating large-scale multinational corporate tax-evasion; not very ethical really, when you think about it.

Unlike in Scotland, there aren’t that many universal benefits, nor are most people entitled to free healthcare. But what you will discover is a higher cost of living, bigger fuel bills, a state that has to import most of its electricity and a population experiencing similar problems to us, such as a housing crisis and huge wealth inequality.

Mr Orr concludes: “Ireland illustrates what small independent countries with full control over their resources and economic levers can achieve.” We will all understand that what this actually means in Scottish nationalist-speak is the power to nationalise industries and borrow enormous amounts of dosh to pay for the state sector, freebies and yet more social welfare.

Don’t forget that with regard to currency, agriculture, trade and many other matters, this “small independent country” has to do as it’s told by Brussels.

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh

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