Opinion

Hazel Davies from Cruden Homes (East) discusses city living trends and Cruden's brand new stylish development - Waverley Square in Edinburgh. For the last few years, house buyers have been leaving behind urban life to seek fresh pastures in the countryside. They’ve taken advantage of changing

Andrew Diamond, partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, reveals how ‘subject to purchase’ bids hold potential for unlocking opportunities to bring more homes on to market as well as greater buying power. Contract clauses which make home sales subject to the seller buying th

Craig McClaren talks about the Royal Town Planning Institute's project to build on the strength of the nations and regions so it can better meet its members' needs. The RTPI’s nations and regions are an incredibly important part of the Institute that work within and across a diverse range of c

DM Hall property expert Calum Allmond believes it's time for a fresh look at the many ways an Energy Performance Certificate can be beneficial to property owners. In the same way that Home Reports have become an accepted part of the residential property market so have Energy Performance Certificates

As part of Scotland Excel’s ‘Supporting the journey to net zero’ campaign, Caitriona Jordan, head of retrofit programmes at Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), looks at the skills needed in the construction industry to support decarbonisation. Decarbonisation

Keith Kilburn and David Arnott outline how international arbitration can be used in the construction industry. International arbitration is a well-recognised dispute resolution process for construction projects throughout the world. It offers numerous benefits to parties, including the ability

As part of Scotland Excel’s ‘Supporting the journey to net zero’ campaign, David Pierpoint, chief executive officer at The Retrofit Academy, explores the skills gap in the retrofit sector and what’s needed to decarbonise housing stock in Scotland. Scotland, like the rest of t

Richard Hepburn, managing director at Millar & Bryce, examines the current trends observed in Landmark Information Group's Q2 property trends report. It could be argued that, compared to the England and Wales property market, the Scottish market entered Q2 at something of a disadvantage as Covid

Paul Kelly argues that more collaboration and regular communications with planning authorities is required to get projects moving. It’s no surprise to me that the number of affordable homes started in the last quarter has decreased significantly from the same period last year. For private sale

To protect customers, the UK government has introduced a new code of practice and ombudsman scheme applying to all private buyers of new homes for owner-occupation anywhere in the UK. Finlay Campbell explains the details. The New Homes Quality Board (NHQB), an independent body established by Westmin

As part of Scotland Excel’s ‘Supporting the journey to net zero’ campaign, John Renwick, sector manager construction at ESP, reveals how Scotland’s colleges are transitioning at pace to develop low carbon heat and energy efficiency training facilities. The Scottish Government

In the first of a regular column for Scottish Construction Now, Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Scotland director Gordon Nelson recalls his attendance at a Tech 2 Grow event that highlighted the help and support available to the trades and SME construction companies in Scotland. The Federation o

Planning minister Tom Arthur and chief planner Fiona Simpson have written to update stakeholders on aspects of the work programme, heading into the summer recess period. For all of us, we have been working through what has been a particularly busy and important time for Scotland’s planning sys

Charles Livingstone and Jamie Dunne from Brodies respond to last week's announcement from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which provisionally found more competition law breaches in the construction sector. The UK's competition law enforcement body, the Competition and Markets Authority (

Steven Simpson from Cruden Homes (East) examines what lies ahead for the housing market, the challenges faced and meeting changing customer needs. Just last month Cruden Homes was amongst the winners at the annual Homes for Scotland Awards. Awards are always welcome, but they mean even more during t