The Scottish Tenants Organisation
Suite 633, Claymore House, 145 Kilmarnock Road, Shawlands, Glasgow, Scotland, UK,G41 3JA
Tel: 
07 826 834 116
or 01698281488. Email: agahst2003@hotmail.com
Tenants Demand Housing Policy Changes from Holyrood
SCOTLAND’S FOR COUNCIL HOUSING
The Scottish Tenants Organisation will make the case for changes to present Government housing policies at a lobby of the Scottish Parliament today, Thursday 12 February 2009.
The lobby organised jointly with the Scottish Trade Union Congress will give tenants the opportunity to meet MSPs, to call for a return to council house building through a mix of direct investment and housing debt write off. The STO also want;
- an end to housing stock transfers
- an end to unnecessary demolitions
- an end to the right to buy
- an end to the give-away of land to the private sector.
Tenants say that it is time for a change of direction in housing policies in order to meet the housing crisis in Scotland where 40.000 people are registered as homeless and over 190.000 people are on landlords’ waiting lists. The STO say that as a country we have failed to meet housing needs and that market solutions are clearly not the answer. The present concerns with the housing market crisis overshadow the existing crisis in housing which has affected people for decades and which will continue unless both the UK and Scottish governments stop their privatisation agendas and address real need.
SCOTLAND’S FOR COUNCILHOUSING
John Carracher, STO convener said ” We have joined forces with the STUC to campaign for a return to decent affordable council housing and will be speaking to MSPs at Holyrood today to present our case. Housing has been in crisis in this country for a long time as successive governments have been too busy pushing the needs of speculators and developers rather than the needs of the communities they represent”.
” Now that economic bubbles are bursting all over the place it is time for a change, away from policies which see people’s homes primarily as ideal investment opportunities, to a return to affordable council housing. If billions can be found to bail out the spivs and speculators then surely homes can be found for the homeless”.
[Ends]
Editors notes
The STO and the STUC have agreed to campaign jointly on housing issues in an effort to get governments to move away from reliance on market solutions with a return to direct investment for council house building and refurbishment.
Further lobbies are planned with joint meetings being arranged around Scotland to garner support over the next year. An alternative housing green paper will also be developed.
Contact:
John Carracher
Convener
Scottish Tenants Organisation
[Cribbed for web]
Tags: Council Housing, National Engagement, Scotland's for Council Housing, STO
