Living Rent members from across Glasgow turned out at the Enough is Enough launch in Glasgow to hear our member Annie speak alongside speakers from across trade unions! Continue reading

On September 7th the Scottish government announced an immediate rent freeze and a freeze on evictions.    As skyrocketing rents continue to pile on top of out of control energy bills, this will have a huge impact on tenants across Scotland.   This is a huge win and make no mistake, this would not have been possible without years of organising by members of Living Rent, Scotland’s Tenants Union.   There is only one way to win the changes that we need in this country and that is by joining your local branch of Living Rent.  

In Edinburgh, members smashed their petition target of 1,700 signatures to put pressure on Edinburgh City council to not only cap short term let numbers but also to bring the numbers down. Continue reading

Castlemilk members had a huge win of an: Area wide 75% service charge rebate over two years negotiated by members Replacement and repair of rotten fencing underway Dispute over Land Ownership and Fly-tipping progressed Continue reading

In the run up to the 2022 Local Election, our Castlemilk members ran a campaign demanding that all the lights on key routes in the park and woodlands be fixed as a priority. Continue reading

Why members of Living Rent Gorgie/Dalry are objecting the development of Tynecastle High School by property developers. The Old Tynecastle High School is a B-listed conservation building on Macleod Street in Gorgie. It served as the high school from 1912 until 2009 when the school relocated to a new building across the road. It has been unoccupied since 2009 and, therefore, has fallen into some disrepair. Nevertheless, it remains a handsome building with a lot of character. Long-term residents in Gorgie remember when the school was open and active, a hub for evening and after-school activities. It is located between the North British Distillery on the west, the Hearts Stadium to the south, the West Approach Road on the north, and the new Tynecastle High School and Love Gorgie Farm to the south-east. It could not be more at the heart of the Gorgie community.  (Photo Left: person dressed up as a cow saying 'Students aren't cash Cows' and person right dressed up as a property developer holding fake money) (Image right: lots of people gathered on front of the Old Tynecastle High School holding signs saying 'Love Students, Hate PBSA' 'students deserve better' 'more social housing')  Continue reading

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

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

Living Rent built itself notably on the sustained efforts by tenants between 2014 and 2016 to shape the 2016 Private Housing Act. After a two year long campaign for secure, quality and affordable housing, the union won legislation which provided more secure tenancies and a first attempt towards rent controls: the rent pressure zones. This was a real victory for the tenants' movement: after 30 years, rent controls were on the table again as a sensible solution to tackle the housing crisis! Continue reading