Rebecca Machin, the SNP candidate for Fort William and Ardnamurchan in the Highland Council by-election has joined the calls for significant improvement in the housing stock for the ward, and across Highland.
“Having a place to call home is essential to wellbeing,” Machin said.
“These are the loved homes of families, some of whom have lived there for generations.
“These areas are loved but they need to be cared for.
“The first priority is to deal with finding some form of support and advocacy for the upcoming changes in factoring and the accompanying legislation.
“Those Scottish Government drafts were written with good intentions to cover the kaleidoscope of ownership within tenements, whether that be owner-occupier, social housing, private rental or AirBnB.
“It will probably work in the Central Belt where there are a range of experienced and respected factors and surveyors that can take up the role.
“However, communities need advocates to ensure that that legislation is fit for purpose in Fort William and Ardnamurchan.
“Secondly, retrofitting and repurposing are just some of the ways we can make better use of unused housing and buildings and bring them back into use.
“It can be cheaper than building from scratch and turn eyesores and unsafe buildings into energy efficient new homes.
“Fort William already has examples of this, The Old Distillery in Inverlochy, the Lochaber and Tweedale House development which are former council buildings.
“But, we can do more and we can do better.
“SNP councillor Sarah Fanet, who serves in the same ward and is also chair of the Highland Council’s Climate Change Committee has also already made strides by leading the retrofitting and energy efficiency of the Swedish Timber properties in the neighbouring Caol ward.
“Her leading of the retrofit of the Swedish Timber properties is an excellent way of addressing both some of the carbon emission needs of the area and working on the housing stock issue which is so prevalent across the west coast,” said Rebecca.
“Scottish Greens MSP Ariane Burgess is already talking about the need for the UK and Scottish Government to work together to tackle the issue of empty homes to address the housing emergency and we need to build upon her work at Highland Council level to make sure that no one feels cut adrift in the place where they should be safest, warmest and sheltered.
“Highland Council should be looking at things within their power to incentivize people to breathe new life into our buildings.
“After all, an empty shell of decaying building today is someone’s much loved multigenerational and treasured home tomorrow.”
