Emergency housing fund doubles, but it’s not enough
Plus: Roslin Institute's swine fever breakthrough; and Firth of Forth wind farm 'could be the deadliest in the world'
Capital gets more cash to snap up ready-built homes - but city’s housing leader isn’t happy
Edinburgh is getting a significant increase in emergency housing funding - but the city’s housing leader (for now at least) is warning much more is needed.
A special fund which allows the council to buy already-built homes has been doubled by the Scottish Government, in recognition of the particular housing pressures in the Capital.
The extra £13.8m takes Scottish Government funding in affordable housing in the city to £73.7m in the current financial year, an increase of around 20%.
However, the city’s housing convener, councillor Lezley Marion Cameron, is warning that while the extra investment is welcome it is effectively a drop in the ocean.
She is currently facing the sack as the Labour-run council’s housing convener for advocating measures designed to encourage more private house building.
Councillor Cameron says: “We’re fast approaching the two-year anniversary of declaring a housing emergency in Edinburgh, and whilst we are making every effort to deliver more new homes, housing supply simply isn’t meeting Edinburgh’s level of housing demand. Much more needs to be done, and much more money needs to come to Edinburgh.”
How far will the extra cash go? It is likely to buy around 150 family homes for rent. In June, the council agreed to buy 38 homes from the MoD for £6.65 million, paying around half of that upfront from its emergency housing fund and borrowing the rest.
What is the city doing? The council is using a variety of tactics to help kickstart private house building and increase council housing stock in the short-term. One priority is targeting projects where council funds can leverage large-scale developer investment. For example, council funding is estimated to have leveraged £200m from private investors in Granton in recent years. Another is buying existing properties, particularly family-sized homes, to provide instant council houses, to tackle the huge waiting list for emergency housing.
What more could it do? The council relies on Scottish Government funding (which in turn is partly reliant on UK government spending) and private developers to tackle the housing shortage. With slim prospects of a huge new public investment in housing at the moment, attention naturally turns to the private sector. Cameron has argued for the council to take one of the few steps within its powers to make building in Edinburgh more financially attractive to private house builders. She wants the local authority to reverse its demand for new developments to include 35 per cent affordable housing rather than the previous 25 per cent.
Is that a good idea? Quite possibly, although views differ. Private house building has slowed dramatically, particularly around the Capital, with increased construction costs and the Scottish Government’s rent controls in particular making the city less attractive to developers. Dropping the higher affordable housing quota could see more homes being built faster, although clearly fewer of those built would be available as subsidised housing.
Goodbye Lesley? Cameron has resisted moves by council leader Jane Meagher - who runs the minority Labour administration - to remove her from her post. Meagher may try to force the issue at the next full council meeting on 30 November, but will need the support of other parties to force the issue.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY: 46,000 oysters have now been reintroduced to the Firth of Forth as part of the Restoration Forth project. Volunteers have played a major role in reintroducing the shellfish which used to flourish in the estuary more than a century ago and play a major role in keeping the waters clean.
‘THE WORLD’S DEADLIEST WINDFARM’: The Scottish Seabird Centre has described the massive windfarm planned for the outer Firth of Forth at Berwick Bank as potentially “the deadliest windfarm for birds anywhere in the world”. Hundreds of thousands of seabirds, including puffins and gannets, visit the Forth each year. The North Berwick-based centre, which is encouraging the public to object to the scheme, said: “These incredible seabird cities are a wildlife wonder but this development is projected to kill thousands of these seabirds each year, driving some of our most vulnerable species towards extinction.”
JAZZ STAR’S VOW: Tommy Smith, the former leader of Scotland’s jazz orchestra, has announced he will never perform in the country again following allegations he had a relationship with a student. The saxophonist, who grew up in Wester Hailes before establishing himself as one of Britain’s leading jazz musicians, was dismissed by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and resigned as leader of the orchestra after concerns were raised about his behaviour.
SWINE FEVER BREAKTHROUGH: Scientists at the Roslin Institute have created pigs that are resistant to the highly infectious Classical Swine Fever. The gene-edited pigs were bred at the Edinburgh University institute which created Dolly the Sheep. The last outbreak of the disease in the UK led to the culling of 75,000 pigs.
STRAITON RELIEF ROAD: Plans for a £55 million relief road designed to ease congestion around the Straiton Junction off the City Bypass have been lodged with Midlothian Council. The new road is expected to take around 9,000 vehicles off the main A701 every day, by taking traffic from Straiton Junction west before linking to the A702 near Penicuik.
E-BIKE ACCIDENTS: Nine e-bike accidents have been reported in Edinburgh over the last five years, the highest number in Scotland, according to new figures released by Transport Scotland. Two of the nine accidents - which average one roughly every six months - involved serious injuries.
TIDY SUM: Rare books and papers of Scottish mathematician James Stirling, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, have been sold by auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull for almost £817,000 at a sale in Edinburgh. The books included Stirling’s very rare first edition of one of Newton’s key works, which sold for almost £101,000.
Pic of the week
THE BUSINESS
Putting trust in big ideas to protect digital security
Digital security innovators and entrepreneurs are being given an opportunity to take forward their big ideas by the Edinburgh-based Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust.
The centre, hosted by Edinburgh Napier University, has launched The Innovation Challenge with up to £50,000 in funding available, to be claimed by the winning entry. Digital trust is becoming more important as more of our lives, including financial, is conducted online. The centre is a collaboration between ENU, the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, FinTech Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.
Shortlisted teams will also benefit from accelerated market access, industry expertise, and technology insights from leaders tackling these challenges daily.
The Challenge is looking for individuals, small teams, startups, and SMEs to come forward with new digital trust technology solutions. They could work in several different areas of the sector, such as distributed ledger, blockchain, digital wallets and privacy-enhancing technology.
Following the call for entries this month, shortlisted teams and individuals will be invited to workshops in November, culminating in a pitch event to decide the final winner. Peter Ferry, the centre’s CEO, said: “This is a huge opportunity for someone to take their big idea to the next level. We are looking forward to helping bring the next generation of cybersecurity and cryptography innovators to the fore, and helping to boost Scotland’s role in this burgeoning sector.”
Anyone interested in entering the Digital Trust Centre of Excellence Innovation Challenge, with a leading industry sponsor just announced, can find out more here.
SPA WIN: The One Spa, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in the city centre, has been awarded coveted Five Bubble Luxury status by the Good Spa Guide, the only spa in the city to achieve that status.
NOUVELLE ALLIANCE: French firm Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has acquired a 25% stake in Edinburgh’s St James Quarter. The billion pound shopping centre still has APG as its majority owner, retaining its 75% stake. The centre, with its 110 shops, leisure and cafes and restaurants and 152 apartments, is set to go through a rebrand following the deal.
MOLESKIN OPENING: The luxury notebook maker Moleskin is to open its first UK store outside London in the St James Quarter. The Italian stationer’s ‘concept’ store will stage events including calligraphy and crafting.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
HAIL TO THE WINTER QUEEN: The spectacular Samhuinn Fire Festival will light up Calton Hill on Friday night, marking the start of winter. For a taste of what’s in store, try our popular feature from last year’s event All hail the Queen of Winter.
BACK IN BLACK: Birmingham Royal Ballet brings Black Sabbath: The Ballet to the Festival Theatre from Thursday until Saturday.
LAST CHANCE: The rest of this week and the weekend will be your last chance to see the hit Andy Goldsworthy retrospective at the National Galleries. Tickets are selling fast so book fast to avoid disappointment.
FESTIVAL OF LIGHT: Edinburgh’s Diwali - Festival of Light celebrations take place on Sunday in St Andrew Square and Princes Street Gardens. The traditional Indian celebrations start with a parade beginning in St Andrew Square at 1.15pm, followed by live music at the Ross Bandstand from 5.30pm and fireworks at 6.45pm. All are welcome.
QUICK BITES
TOP KOREAN: Ong Gie in Brougham Place has been named Korean Restaurant of the Year in the Scottish Asian Food Awards at a ceremony in Glasgow.