THE MOST upmarket collection of new apartments to launch in Scotland’s recent history has become a fully-fledged community, with the first “core” fully sold and buyers moving in.
Launched by CALA Homes (East), The Crescent at Donaldson’s is a bold and sweeping arc of glass-fronted apartments – with current availability priced from £975,000 to £1,750,000. Continue reading The Crescent comes alive with first apartments all sold
Scotland needs new “game-changer” social policies if it is to meet the government’s child poverty targets, according to new research published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation during Challenge Poverty Week. Continue reading Scotland needs ‘game-changer’ policies to meet child poverty targets, says JRF
Bield has revealed it remains focused on continuing to bring innovative changes to housing and care services to underline its commitment to improve the lives of Scotland’s older people. Continue reading Bield ‘not afraid of change’
A planning application by S1 Developments for the ‘Skyliner’ site in Leith has been granted, subject to conditions, by City of Edinburgh Council Development Management Sub-Committee. Continue reading Green light for ‘Skyliner’ housing in Leith
A service that matches students with private accommodation in Edinburgh is hunting for more landlords after being short of potential spaces for 120 students for the upcoming academic year. Continue reading University letting service calls for more landlords
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart met new residents during a visit to Western Gateway last week. The Minister’s visit marked the completion of the first phase of mid-rent housing delivery at Western Harbour. Continue reading New housing phase completed at Western Harbour
A £1.7m penthouse – the jewel in the crown of The Crescent by CALA Homes (East), a luxury development within Edinburgh’s UNESCO World Heritage Site – is now available to rent.
It is anticipated the three-bedroom apartment, which overlooks Donaldson’s School, will be available for upwards of £5k per month. Continue reading Edinburgh’s most expensive apartment now available for rent
Anyone facing homelessness will spend no longer than a week in unsuitable accommodation like bed and breakfasts under new legislation.
The seven day limit on unsuitable temporary accommodation which currently covers families with children and pregnant women will now be extended to protect everyone at risk of homelessness.
Announcing the changes, which will come into effect by May 2021, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “We know that people living in these unsuitable environments can for too long often lack cooking or washing facilities, and some have reported that they cannot have visits from family or friends.
“These experiences have a detrimental effect on people’s physical and mental wellbeing, preventing them from rebuilding their lives.
“While temporary accommodation can offer an important emergency safety net for anyone who finds themselves homeless, such as those fleeing domestic violence, it should be a purely temporary measure.
“In Scotland we are already world-leading in tackling homelessness, and now this new legislation, which is a UK first, will make sure that the time anyone spends in unsuitable temporary accommodation is as short as possible before moving to a more appropriate, permanent home.
“We recognise the importance of a settled home in supporting people to live their life with good health, wellbeing and a sense of community and belonging.
“That’s why we’re investing £32.5 million, which includes more than half of our £50 million Ending Homelessness Together Fund, to support local authorities to prioritise settled accommodation for all.”
Research published by Crisis last year gathered experiences of 74 people across Edinburgh, East Lothian, Glasgow, Midlothian, Aberdeenshire and Highland who have faced months in unsuitable temporary accommodation such as B&Bs.
It showed that these experiences damage people’s mental health and job prospects, entrenching their homelessness.
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of homeless charity Crisis, said: “We strongly welcome the announcement that the Scottish Government will change the law so that people will no longer have to live in the most unsuitable forms of temporary accommodation for longer than seven days.
“This marks a major achievement for our Life in Limbo campaign, a three year project which has sought to put an end to lengthy and dehumanising stays in unsupported hostels, hotels and B&Bs.
“This decision is a recognition of the resolve of our clients to shine a light on the inhumane conditions they were experiencing and the determination to ensure no one else was subjected to these prolonged stays.
“Making sure that everyone has a home where they can begin to rebuild their lives benefits all of us. Once again Scotland has shown it is a world leader in tackling homelessness and this commitment is a major step forward towards it being the first nation in Great Britain to end homelessness for good.”
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Council Leader Adam McVey describes the Capital Coalition’s programme for the next six months, which aims to deliver substantial progress for Edinburgh …
As we pass the midpoint of another bumper festival season, our focus rightly remains on making the case for new powers, such as a visitor levy, to support future investment and to manage the impact of tourism in the city – as well as a licensing regime to regulate short term lets.
There are now 12,000 Edinburgh properties listed on AirBnB alone and, earlier this summer, our enforcement team found a lettings company running 40 unauthorised residential lets in one block in Western Harbour.
Put simply: we need more power to take stronger action.
Major public realm projects like the re-imagination of George Street and its surrounding streets – which just scooped a fantastic £20m in Sustrans funding – as well as the City Centre Transformation, City Mobility Plan and proposals for Low Emission Zones are hugely ambitious and will move substantially ahead as we move towards Christmas.
As well as transforming the way we get around and spend time in our city, we also need to move with the times and respond to changing retail trends. Towards the end of the year we’ll report back on our ongoing major consultation on the future of retail in the city centre, including Princes Street, which aims to make sure we’re making the most of our world famous thoroughfare.
Autumn sees the Transport Bill reach its final stages in Parliament, which amongst other things, will give local government the power to decide on a Workplace Parking Levy.
We believe that these powers, which have been used to such great effect by Nottingham Council, will allow us to invest in better and more public transport, reduce congestion and help to improve air quality – all contributing towards achieving our super-ambitious (but achievable) target of becoming a net-zero carbon Capital by 2030.
Tackling poverty and inequality are also vital to enabling everyone to share in this great city’s success. The Poverty Commission, which we brought together late last year, is already taking great strides in its work and is due to bring back its final recommendations early next year. There is no doubt these will be challenging for us as council – just as they will be for the city as whole.
We are continuing to invest heavily in our young people and in the buildings where they learn. Over the summer we’ve carried out extensive repair and maintenance across our school estate alongside work on other Council facilities and buildings. And later this month we’ll see spades in the ground for a brand new primary school in Broomhills – Edinburgh’s first new primary school in a generation.
In Early Years, we’ve got 3,000 pupils already receivng the additional hours and have recruited 360 new staff to help plan for the full rollout of 1,140 funded hours next August, with 79 partner providers on board and five forest kindergartens up and running by late October to add to the mix.
Meanwhile, work is due to get under way on the new Castlebrae High School towards the end of 2019, and four new classrooms at Queensferry Primary School will open next month, when we also expect to hear if we’ve been successful in our bid for funding for the next wave of of new schools, with Currie top of the list.
Health and Social Care services and the way they’re delivered are set for a shake-up with the rollout of a bold new vision that is modern, sustainable and tackles inequality. The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board’s ‘Strategic Plan’ aims to take our health and social care services to a place where, for the first time, we have our own ‘Edinburgh Model’ of health care, best suited to our people and our communities.
Our ambitious house-building programme is delivering results across the city and along with our housing association partners we currently have 2,300 affordable homes under construction. This autumn, we’ll submit a masterplan to create an exceptional new neighbourhood on the land around the new Meadowbank Sports Centre, comprising mixed tenure housing with a minimum of 35% affordable homes for social and mid-market rent.
Before Christmas, we’ll consult on a pivotal strategy to inform the city’s future development – the City Plan 2030. Starting in December, the Choices for City Plan 2030 consultation will gather residents’ views to help shape a sustainable, inclusive and successful Edinburgh for generations to come.
Planning ahead for Edinburgh’s future, while simultaneously driving up service standards in the here and now is critical for us. It’s vital we get the basics right and we’re continuing to drive up performance in waste and cleansing services and in our roads. Meanwhile, we’ll work to improve further on our best road condition score since 2014; major roads resurfacing schemes this financial year include £2m worth of investment in Lothian Road, Gilmerton Road, Portobello Road and Liberton Gardens.
Our 2050 Edinburgh City Vision will launch later this year having had the highest response of any previous engagement activity ever conducted by the Council with nearly 55,000 distinct visions were received from residents and organisations.
So, the next six months will be busy. A new vision for the city, substantial progress on the delivery of our Programme for the Capital and further improvement in the core services that we all rely upon. We remain committed to ensuring all residents can all share in its success with an inclusive economy and City.
As we move towards the half way point of our administration, we’ve not lost sight or drive in delivering on that agenda.
The council leader himself will be absent for part of that six months, of course. Adam and his partner have adopted two boys and Councillor McVey, Edinburgh’s youngest ever council leader, is taking a six-week paternity break from council duties – he’ll be back in October.
THE Scottish capital’s property market is at its most active in more than a decade despite Brexit uncertainty contributing to other parts of the UK experiencing the slowest sales since the global financial crash. Continue reading Edinburgh property sales peak while UK stalls
