Living Rent is Scotland’s tenants’ union.

THREE YEARS HAVE PASSED since the Grenfell towering inferno claimed the lives of 72 tenants[...] ACTION BY the Muirhouse branch of Living Rent has succeeded in forcing City of Edinburgh Council to repair two defective fire doors in Oxcars Court. Only after Living Rent called the Fire Brigade, did online publicity and contacted councillors and managers did the Council finally act to secure residents’safety[...] We accuse Edinburgh City Council of endangering tenants’ lives by flaunting the fire safety regulations and failing to perform emergency repairs until being forced to do so by Living Rent and the Fire Brigade.THE FARCE OF THE BIRNIES lifts continues. For the three years since the Council took out lifts that worked perfectly well and replaced them with two that are constantly breaking down, Birnies tenants have had to do with one working lift at best, often with none at all. The complications of social distancing when 56 flats on 14 floors with over 100 residents are forced to use one small lift during a virus pandemic are dire, with a queue forming during busy times. It was heartwarming to see the behaviour of tenants, refusing to share the lift but letting others go before them[...] TRAPPED In Birnies one lift serves the evennumber floors, the other does the odds. They take turns at breaking down. But sometimes both conk out, leaving many tenants struggling. Says one Birnies tenant, 'I’m a pensioner on the 12th floor. Both lifts were out last week, I had 2 bags of shopping and my dog and they expect me to climb 12 floors. My legs are bad. I’m sick to death of these lifts - when they do work you get stuck in them. Yes, we’re definitely on lockdown with these lifts. It’s terrible what they are doing to folk living here.'READ ON