Opinion

Barry McKeown, a real estate partner and head of Shoosmiths’ Glasgow office, reflects on the key issues from a Scotland perspective that arose from last week’s MIPIM 2026 conference. Last week, I and several colleagues joined more than 20,000 delegates from across the global property, in

Market sentiment towards Scotland for residential investment, specifically for build to rent, has strengthened after recent rent control exemptions, which Ryden's residential investment & development head of agency, David Fraser, sees as a huge opportunity for Glasgow and Edinburgh.   After

With fewer cars, but with bus, tram or train options nearby, residents of a new 950-home development on the western outskirts of Edinburgh will benefit from an embarrassment of riches in terms of transport, writes Stuart Harrow, director of transportation at Dougall Baillie Associates. Edinburg

Geoff O’Brien, relationship director for Scotland at Assetz Capital, discusses what’s really needed to stimulate housebuilding across Scotland, from a focus on bringing in new planning talent to simplifying the process for smaller, SME housebuilder-led schemes. The Scottish housing crisi

Sarah Stuart, construction law partner at Thorntons, highlights the risks of project overruns and shares how to structure contracts in order to deal with this. As attention turns once again to Holyrood with Scottish Parliamentary elections approaching, it's worth remembering that there was a time wh

Gordon Hunt, divisional director (Glasgow) at Clancy Consulting, examines why Scotland’s cladding remediation programme risks falling behind unless delivery accelerates. Nearly a decade on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, which claimed 72 lives and reshaped how we think about building safety,

Having studied planning application trends as a litmus test for whether land supply for housing is running out in Scotland, development & investment manager Jake Poole suggests that while the picture is not bleak across the board just yet, cracks are emerging, and it is a slow ship to turn. In r

Tax expert Tony Cochrane discusses HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) recent shift from a lenient enforcement period to a strict compliance regime regarding the VAT Domestic Reverse Charge (DRC) within the construction industry, outlining the specific criteria for its application and offering practica

Joe Warren, building consultancy partner at Knight Frank, looks ahead to the EPC changes coming into effect later in the year. There are lots of legislative and regulatory difference between Scotland and the rest of the UK. But perhaps one of the most misunderstood differences in property has been t

The Scottish Government’s planned exemptions from rent control measures within the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 signal a more stable and investable landscape for developers, investors and funders, offering a timely catalyst for boosting housing supply across Scotland, write Russell Munro and Pa

Robert Bennett, head of sales and marketing for bathroom and kitchen surfaces supplier Rearo, argues that public and private sector tendering processes are now governed as much by social and ethical considerations as by financial and commercial, and that this applies across a company's entire supply

As 2026 continues, the Glasgow office market offers a clear and compelling narrative: demand remains healthy, but it is increasingly selective, Sarah Hagen writes. For occupiers, investors and landlords alike, 2025 was a year defined by the flight to quality, tightening supply and the gradual but me

Laura Fraser, project manager of the Skills Transition Centre at Forth Valley College, outlines the changing nature of teaching and learning in the construction sector. Here at Forth Valley College, we are transforming the way students learn construction trades through our new Skills Transition Cent

One year on from the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 coming into force, Hamish Paterson – director and head of building surveying at Thomas & Adamson – reflects on the lessons learned during the first year of Scotland’s national cladding programme and the nex

Nicola Woodward, senior director and head of the Edinburgh office at Lichfields, examines how current housing policy in Scotland, and the growing number of out-of-date local development plans, are affecting housing delivery. Scotland has been in a declared housing emergency since May 2024, yet the d