Across Scotland, we have seen over 66 000 public homes being demolished, leaving large vacant land sites like gapping holes throughout our communities. Despite the housing crisis that Scotland faces, neighbourhood branch after branch sees these plots being prioritised for buy-to-let and luxury developments, in an ongoing attempt by city planners to 'mix' our communities, bringing in more expensive housing instead of the genuinely affordable homes we need.This is why across Glasgow, members are rising up to fight for this land to be prioritised for social and public housing, built to the highest environmental standards and reflecting our needs and vision. Continue reading

Refurbishment - making our homes more energy efficient - presents a huge and 'shovel' ready opportunity for Scotland to tackle fuel poverty as well as the health impacts related to poor housing conditions, whilst taking head on the combined threats of climate change and the economic crises resulting from the global pandemic and Brexit.Several branches of Living Rent are taking this challenge head on: asking for the total refurbishment of their blocks, the changing of drafty windows and the implementation of district heating schemes. This is also a key challenge of private sector homes and as Scotland prepares to host COP 26, members throughout Scotland are organising to get the government to commit to ambitious refurbishment targets, in order to deliver the homes Scotland needs. Continue reading

  Living Rent's national campaign against the rent hikes in social housing reaches national television. Councils and housing associations, are you listenening? Don't accept the increase. Be heard. Fill out the consultation. livingrent.org/freeze_rents   Continue reading

During the pandemic, members and tenants have been at the forefront of fighting against evictions and ensuring that no one would be made homeless in the midst of a pandemic. Members first won the first eviction ban in Scotland's history in March 2020. Since, we have been organising up and down the country to get these protections extended. From September 2020 until March 2021, members supported each other when threatened with eviction, won a further ban of evictions from the 9th of December and managed to get it extend in January 2021 and then again in March 2021 to ensure that no tenants would evicted during a pandemic. Continue reading

  Since January 2021, members of the Wyndford and residents across Maryhill have been occupying Collina Street, locally know at 'The Valley', to stop the sale by the Glasgow Council of this former site of public homes for private development. They are occupying the land until their demands for it to be used for community managed, environmentally friendly, housing for social rent are met. Continue reading

Living Rent statement on GCC Full Council meeting, 11 March 2021 Continue reading

Hi there Folks my name is John Paul Warrillow, and this is my story of the troubles I’ve had and I’m currently still facing in finding safe, secure and stable housing. I feel extremely let down by the state of housing in Scotland. During the pandemic, I’ve been given two different unlawful eviction notices and the letting agency I’m with came to do repairs in my property without adequate PPE. They treated my rights as a tenant and as a person trying to stay safe with disdain. But this is just part of my housing story. Continue reading

Housing is one of the primary sites of social reproduction; a home is made from the unpaid and emotional labour that has historically been carried out by women. The labour that takes place within the home is centred on sustaining life, rather than accruing profit. It should come as no surprise that women have been and continue to be central to the housing movement. Living Rent is no exception.   Continue reading

Living Rent Union members in the Muirhouse branch have published their 5th issue of 'The Six Blocks' documenting their struggles, concerns, and successes in their ongoing fight against Edinburgh Council for better public housing conditions. Access the fourth issue of this newsletter here.  

Living Rent demands that Councillor David McDonald gives local communities honest answers on our services! Continue reading