Housing

TheHomesWeNeed250Scotland faces a massive crisis in the availability, the cost and the quality of our housing. There were more than 150,000 people on local authority housing waiting lists across Scotland in 2015, a level over 30% higher than in 2004. Yet the social housing stock has declined.

Shelter has estimated that we need to build at least 12,000 affordable houses each year to meet current and future need.
UNISON Scotland believes that housing has been left to the market for too long. The market has failed to deliver. The private owned and private rented sectors cannot address the shortage.

This housing crisis requires a massive programme of social housing investment from the public sector. In our policy paper Making Homes for a Fairer Scotland we outlined a new housing programme for Scotland and we have showed how this could be funded, using some of the assets represented by public sector pension funds in our document Funding and Building the Homes Scotland Needs.

Latest news

First Minister must intervene in Bield Housing decision to close 12 care homes

Bield Housing and Care, announced yesterday (11 October) that they intend to close 12 care homes in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, ... Read More

‘ICT should focus on providing better services not cuts’ says UNISON report

Date: Monday 30 November 2015 A UNISON Scotland report Disconnected, published today, 30 November 2015, claims that ICT services should ... Read More

Community led public services can transform inequalities, says report

Date: Thursday 22 October 2015 UNISON Labour Link Media Release - Launch of Commission on Health Inequalities report will take place at 22 ... Read More

More Housing News

Latest documents

Delivering net zero for Scotland’s buildings: Heat in Buildings Bill

thumbnail of Heat in Buildings Bill Consultation March 24
This is UNISON Scotland's response to the Scottish Government consultation on its proposed Heat in Buildings Bill. We are members ...

Briefing 132 – Housing and the Cost of Living Crisis

thumbnail of Housing cost of living Briefing 2023
Rising housing costs are driving people into poverty. This briefing presents the findings of new research, based on a survey ...

Briefing 127 – Scottish Household Survey 2021

thumbnail of Scottish Household Survey Policy Briefing 127 2023
This briefing looks at some key findings of the Scottish Household Survey 2021. This is a general population survey carried ...

A New Deal for Tenants

thumbnail of Final UNISON New Deal for Tenants April 2022
This is UNISON's response to the proposed reform of the private rented sector. High private rents and house prices are ...

National Public Energy Agency

thumbnail of UNISON Scotland Public Energy Agency Feb 2022
UNISON supports the creation of a new public agency to direct the roll-out of heating decarbonisation and energy efficiency. Strategic ...

UNISON Week 319 – Social care reform debate, local government pay ballot, housing and more

thumbnail of UNISON Week 319
UNISON Week 319 - Social care reform debate, local government pay ballot, housing and more. Read full newsletter here ...

More on briefings page