Housing campaign open to all

Controversial issues from asbestos legislation to increased factoring fees and from the proposed 2018 sports village at Sighthill to the dampness in the winget houses at Carntyne will all be on the agenda at the next meeting of Glasgow Home Owners’ and Tenants’ Campaign.

Said Chairman, Sean Clerkin: ‘We want to emphasise that any resident or tenant in the city is welcome, especially if they are in GHA property or homes factored by GHA.’

The regular monthly meeting will be held in the Jurys Inn, Jamaica Street at 7pm on Thursday 27 September.

Overcladding survey agreed

A major survey will be carried out on Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) factored and owned properties to check how effective re-cladding and re-roofing work has been.

A recent high level meeting with Government officials, GHA and the Glasgow Home Owners and Tenants Campaign agreed that such a survey should be carried out.

There have been many complaints from tenants and home owners as evidenced by this website. Re-roofing and overcladding work, once completed, has led to problems of dampness in particular, claim many householders.

A GHA spokesman said: ‘Two independent surveys have been carried out already. The last, by the Building Research Establishment, concluded that dampness found in a very small number of homes was caused by heating and ventilation issues and NOT because of the overcladding work. However, we are co-operating fully with the Scottish Government on a further sample survey and will address any issues identified.’

On behalf of the Home Owners and Tenants Campaign, Sean Clerkin said: ‘This shows that persistence pays. We’ve been campaigning for a survey for more than two years. It is the best possible deal for Glasgow home owners and tenants.’

He commented that had Ian Gray not run away from the Campaign people who lobbied him in Central Station, they would not have gone to Alex Salmond during the election campaign. ‘The First Minister is to be praised. He’s kept his word. Not many politicians do. He said during the campaign when he met us that he would support a survey of the overcladding and re-roofing work if he should be re-elected. And he’s done exactly that.’

 

 

General Election 2010 – Veteran campaigners line up in Glasgow South-West

The sitting tenant in Glasgow South-West is the Labour and Co-operative Party’s Ian Davidson. He took 60% of the vote in 2005 with a handsome majority of 13,896 and looks set to retain his place in the House of Commons through some very active campaigning in the area. He did not come out unscathed from the MP expenses scandal. It emerged that he paid a friend £5,000 to renovate his flat, and had £1,500 worth of furniture delivered to his Glasgow home. He claimed that this was later driven to his London flat. He also claimed £6,000 in fees to help him to find a flat.
Chris Stephens is the SNP candidate for Glasgow South West. He is a Unison trade union activist. The SNP have an uphill struggle, having only polled 15% of the votes in the 2005 election. However, with Nicola Sturgeon as the SNP’s Glasgow talisman, there just may be a bounce effect for the party on May 6.
Maya Forrest is the Conservative candidate for Glasgow South West. The original candidate, Heather MacLeod, stood down at a late stage in the process.
Standing for the newly formed Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is the one and only Tommy Sheridan.
Love him or loath him, it’s hard to ignore him. The veteran Poll Tax fighter is due to stand trial for perjury in September 2010, in relation to the infamous News of the World defamation case. However, STUSC aim to unite the left vote and have links to the Public and Commercial Services union.
Isabel Nelson is standing for the Liberal Democrats. She came second to Mohammed Sarwar in Glasgow Central in 2005. She works as an IT consultant and has four children and six grandchildren. She has campaigned against damp housing and given evidence to Glasgow City Council and to two House of Commons Select Committees investigating the extent of fuel poverty in the UK.