Focus on Influencing Scotland - May 2026

Welcome to our latest Focus on Influencing Scotland newsletter, which provides an update on our latest policy and influencing work.

Earlier this month, Scotland headed to the polls for the Scottish parliamentary election. Ahead of the vote, we were pleased to see cross-party support for housing issues. We are disappointed that this momentum has not been reflected in the cabinet structure, particularly the decision to merge the previously standalone housing brief with the social justice portfolio in the appointment of a cabinet secretary for social justice and housing. 

We have now issued a post-election briefing to all MSPs to re-highlight our members’ priorities for the sector, as set out in our manifesto, and have called on the new Scottish government to ensure that housing remains a central political priority going forward.

We will be seeking to arrange follow up meetings with key MSPs, including housing spokespeople, in the coming weeks. You can find further information about all of our elections work on our dedicated hub.

We have also been working with the Hoarding Taskforce to develop a manifesto for hoarding. The manifesto sets out the Taskforce’s ambitions to reduce suffering and improve outcomes for people who hoard, shift expenditure from crisis to earlier intervention and prevention, and support workers to respond confidently and competently. You can find out more about the work of the Hoarding Taskforce here and you can also read our new blog on the issue from our policy and practice manager Ashley Campbell, published during National Hoarding Awareness Week.

Last month, we responded to the Scottish government's consultation on accelerating home building - incentives and penalties to speed up housing delivery. In our response, we supported the drive to unlock stalled sites and simplify the system, but urged the Scottish government to ensure any new measures are clear, proportionate and backed by sufficient local authority capacity to implement them. You can read the full response here.

Preparations have also begun for this year’s Scottish Housing Day, which takes place on Wednesday the 16th of September. The day will focus on ‘healthy homes, healthy futures’, highlighting the links between housing and health, so watch this space for more details on how you can get involved.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of our work in more detail, please get in touch.

Gillian McLees
National director, CIH Scotland
gillian.mclees@cih.org