Opinion

Stabilising interest rates and availability of cash creates ‘welcome news’ for Scots home buyers and sellers as senior estate agent Peter Ryder predicts that UK residential property sales will hit over 1m in 2023. The property market in Scotland is less volatile regarding house price sta

Both residents and businesses are benefiting from Clyde Gateway's recent investments in green spaces, says Ian Manson. For Clyde Gateway, Scotland’s most ambitious regeneration project, there has been an increased focus on creating new green spaces. Aside from the many environmental reasons br

Hamish Trench talks about the recent Scottish Government consultation on the Land Reform Bill and the Scottish Land Commission’s response. Over the last four months, the Scottish Government has been consulting on its proposals for a new Land Reform Bill. This is a key stage towards development

Architect Chris Malcolm discusses how a holistic, people-centric vision can achieve more with less across publicly funded projects in Scotland. The ambition to deliver a more place focused, locally responsive approach to public service delivery across the diverse context of Scotland is fundamental t

Greater scrutiny and accountability may be helping to drive an attitude change in the construction sector when it comes to on-site water management. But is it happening fast enough – and could automated solutions help to accelerate things? Tristan Hughes of specialist provider OSSO discusses h

Typically, the construction industry has been a male-dominated world with little to no provisions for women, people of certain faiths or those with disabilities, but times are changing, writes CIOB’s Mark Harrison. I was appointed the Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) first Head o

While 3D visualisation has been commonplace in construction for some time, Dr Harpreet Seth asks whether the industry is ready to take the next step and enter the metaverse. To many, the metaverse is a new word, a concept born of the internet age, a distant and scary place to contemplate visiti

Craig Fairfoull, head of sales and marketing at independent developer Dundas, reveals why Scotland's first time buyers are struggling to get on the property ladder. The outcry over the scrapping of the top rate of tax and the inevitable U-turn have served as cloud cover for a growing fiscal inj

Kicking off a regular Chartered Institute of Building column for Scottish Construction Now, Jocelyne Fleming reveals the organisation's priorities in Scotland. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is the world's largest and most influential professional body for construction man

Ryan Cossar from the Scottish Futures Trust argues that the whole life performance of new affordable homes must be at the forefront of net zero calculations. Recent Government data shows that as much as 80% of the carbon emissions from buildings can be attributed to housing.

Construction lawyer Andrew Boccoli believes that a question mark hangs over the continuation of fixed-price arrangements. For the past 20 years, convention in the construction trade has been that contractors take on much of the financial risk when they tender successfully for projects. But, as the w

As part of Scotland Excel’s ‘Supporting the journey to Net Zero’ campaign, Professor Sean Smith, chair of Future Construction and director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure at the University of Edinburgh, speaks of the importance of accelerating energy efficiency of buildings

Following a recent meeting of the FMB Scotland Board, director Gordon Nelson shares some feedback from local building firms across Scotland. The juxtaposition of the ‘ugly’ topics of insurance premiums and increasing business overheads with the beautiful surroundings of Speyside, struck

Following her first three months as Homes for Scotland CEO, Jane Wood is astounded that there is so much that people don’t know or value about home building. Transitioning into a new sector is always challenging, not only in terms of needing to learn at pace to support your leadership thinking

With over 65s set to account for a quarter of our population in 20 years, Steven Simpson from Cruden Homes believes we need to plan ahead to shape the future of housing to meet this growing mature market. In just 20 years from now, a quarter of the UK population will be aged 65 or over. That&rs