Tenants in Nisbet and Hawkhill Court deserve better. After years of neglect, it is time to demand action from Edinburgh Council. Add your name to the collective letter and answer four questions about how you can build the campaign. Living Rent is Scotland's Tenant and Community Union - it is a member led union fighting to defend the interests of ordinary people. 

Collective Letter from residents in Nisbet and Hawkhill Court: Urgent Action Required for Unsafe and Substandard Homes 

Dear Paul Lawrence,

CC: Gareth Barwell (Interim Executive Director of Place), Graeme Reid (Head of High Rise), and members of the Housing, Homelessness, and Fair Work Committee

Your tenants and residents of Hawkhill and Nisbet Court are writing to you in your capacity as Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council with the following reasonable demands regarding inadequate living conditions and cost of living in our homes, which are falling well below acceptable and statutory standards while the cost of our rent is increasing.

The flats in Hawkhill and Nisbet Court are unreasonably cold and difficult to heat properly. There is poor to no insulation in the buildings, windows across the flats are broken and not airtight causing draughts and excessive heat loss, and storage heating systems are alarmingly expensive and ineffective to run. Your tenants and young children are being left in the cold. 

There here is endemic dampness and mould growth throughout the buildings. This is not being adequately addressed and poses an urgent and serious risk to health and wellbeing. Urgent intervention is necessary to bring these properties up to a liveable standard before winter arrives.  Tenants in Nibset and Hawkhill cannot endure another winter in these conditions. 

There are further serious concerns regarding repairs and maintenance in the buildings which require investigation urgently. Electrical systems in various properties are outdated or unreliable, creating hazards that jeopardize tenant safety. Additionally, repair response times are unacceptably long, leaving residents to deal with faulty wiring or broken fixtures for extended periods. Fire safety regulations also remain a major concern, with numerous properties lacking appropriate safety measures. These failures put lives at risk and require immediate corrective action.  

These issues are persistent and long term and you and your team have failed to properly address the concerns of tenants to date.  It is unacceptable that tenants are expected to endure these issues while also being subjected to rising rent costs.  

Given the unacceptable conditions tenants are forced to endure, it is not reasonable to expect residents to pay full rent - let alone an increased rate while the fundamental issues with heating, insulation, and health and safety remain unresolved. 

We, the undersigned, ask that the City of Edinburgh Council commit to delivering the following reasonable demands: 

• Investigate and properly address the root cause of damp and mould.

• Insulate the flats sufficiently.

• Fix broken and draughty windows. 

• Install a cheaper heating system to reduce extortionate bills. 

• Complete an in-depth survey and inspection of each entire building to address any potential safety hazards.

• Postpone rent increases until substantial repairs and improvements have been completed to ensure properties meet basic habitability standards.

• Negotiated compensation for residents.

• Write off outstanding arrears prior to April 2025 of tenants living in substandard homes.

• Right to rehousing elsewhere where homes cannot be made safe to live in before winter.

We invite you and the relevant decision makers to negotiate on these reasonable solutions with a delegation of City of Edinburgh Council tenants, Living Rent Union members, at a convenient date as soon as possible. It is imperative that tenant welfare is prioritised, ensuring that all rental homes meet the fundamental standards for safety, warmth, and habitable housing. We look forward to receiving your confirmation that you will negotiate with tenants to [email protected] within one week of receipt of this letter, and to meeting and moving matters forwards constructively. 

Signed:

In Winter 2024, members of Living Rent Lochend met with the Just Transition Commission to discuss the impacts of Edinburgh City Council's Mixed Tenure Improvement Service (MTIS) on the area. It was agreed that members compile a report to the Comission on their experience of MTIS. The report, which is published here, outlines:

• A brief history of  MTIS,
• What is felt to have gone wrong,
• Why that has happened,
• Missed opportunities and ways forward,
• The community response and progress to date.

The Just Transition Commission is an independent advisory body to the Scottish government responsible for providing scrutiny and advice on putting justice at the heart of climate action.

On Wednesday 21st May 2025, members held a public meeting at the local community centre, The Ripple Project. Councillors and MSPs were invited to hear from residents about their experience of MTIS and what could be done to make the scheme more fair. Unite City of Edinburgh Council, Friends of the Earth Scotland, and Eala Architects joined us to speak to shared solutions. 

Lochend MTIS: A Retrofit Case Study - How to ensure a just transition for all

MTIS was introduced to Lochend and Restalrig residents in 2023 when households first started to receive letters announcing the scheme. The news of millions of pounds of investment to the area was deeply welcome given the level of disrepair to buildings.

At the October 2024 meeting of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, the MTIS team submitted a Completion Report for Wester Hailes MTIS. At this meeting, the Committee passed a motion to temporarily pause major further expansion of MTIS until February 2025, to allow any prospective changes political groups may wish to make to the scheme as part of the budget setting process.

Council tenants, private tenants and homeowners in Lochend have been working together to ensure their conditions are secure as MTIS work is carried out in their community. Implementing a just transition in the housing sector is a practical matter of pivotal importance.

The aim of this report is to share with the council generally, but specifically with the MTIS team, our communities experience of the scheme in order to make recommendations that can improve communication and participation.

Each section is comprised of questions that residents still have about the scheme, and in green boxes are our recommendations for how it would be helpful to communicate this information.

This report has been sent to the MTIS team, where we also invited them to meet with us. 

Last year, Living Rent Lochend branch celebrated winning millions of pounds of much needed investment into the housing in Lochend and Restalrig after taking action at the City Chambers. 

Now, members have written to elected Councillors and responsible council staff asking them to make sure that the Mixed Tenure Improvement Service - an area based scheme to improve housing in the community - is implemented fairly and on the community's terms. 

Living Rent members drafted a letter outlining our concerns with the scheme and our proposals to address them - back the demands and sign the letter now! 

You can read the letter in full here.