In numbers, w/e October 6 – Place Design Scotland

THE number of ‘assets’, such as land and buildings, now in community ownership increased by two per cent last year on the previous 12 months.

Figures released by the Scottish Government – here – show that there were 754 ‘assets in community ownership’ in Scotland, up to the end of last year: an increase of 16 from 738 in 2021. These are owned by 505 groups.

Says the Scottish Government: “Most assets in community ownership are land and buildings. These cover an area of 212,342 hectares, which is 2.7 per cent of the total land area of Scotland.”

Among other findings:

Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Western Isles) contains 153,630 ha of community-owned land, 72 per cent of the total land area in community ownership;

The Highland and Argyll and Bute local authorities together contain 274 assets, 36 per cent of all assets in community ownership; and

There are 26 assets which are not land or buildings. These include a ferry, a small boat, a pontoon for berthing watercraft, a single car transporter and salmon fishing rights for a river.

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Poverty findings

MEANWHILE, the research charity, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is reporting that over one million people still live in poverty in Scotland, with nearly half of those (490,000) living in what it describes as ‘very deep poverty’.

It adds, here: “Just over ten per cent of workers in Scotland are locked in persistent low-pay i.e. they are paid below the ‘real Living Wage‘ – 72 per cent of them are women.”

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Rising rents

AND property website, Rightmove, is reporting that average advertised rents outside London have hit a new record for the 15th consecutive quarter-year, and are now ten per cent higher than a year ago at £1,278 per calendar month (pcm).

It is also reporting (here):

Average London rents have also risen to a record of £2,627 pcm, now 12.1 per cent higher than last year; and

The number of enquiries each property is receiving from would-be tenants has more than tripled to 25 from eight at this time in 2019, and that the increase in enquiries is being “driven by the ongoing imbalance between supply and demand, with 41 per cent more tenants looking to move than in 2019 and available supply down by 35 per cent”.

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Picture credit: Place Design Scotland

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