Press Releases

Last Thursday (10 October), the Scottish Property Federation (SPF) held its eleventh annual dinner in Edinburgh which attracted some 400 guests from the real estate industry as well as public sector representatives from across local authorities and Scottish and UK parliaments.

Featuring speeches from the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Ian Murray MP, former Levelling-Up & Communities Secretary the Rt Hon Michael Gove, BPF President Jessica Hardman, and SPF Chair Stuart Oag, the evening provided a valuable opportunity to unite the industry with key stakeholders and decision-makers from across the UK.

Rent control

SPF Chair Stuart Oag’s speech called for greater collaboration between government and the industry and sounded a renewed warning over the need to protect against the harm of rent controls in Scotland.

He said:

“The SPF have worked hard on your behalf to make this case, most recently on the Housing Bill.  We have taken every opportunity to demonstrate why it is necessary that the introduction of rent control legislation must be done in a way that will facilitate investment in new housing.  Unless we boost supply, we will remain trapped in a cycle of a lack of homes of all types and tenures.  If we reduce supply, then we will exacerbate the structural deficiencies which currently exist, and which have led to the declaration of housing emergency. 

“All of that said, I am and remain an optimist.  I am encouraged by the First Minister’s Programme for Government statement and in the engagements we have since had with both the Deputy First Minister and the Housing Minister.  But we do need to see the detail – the next few weeks’ work on the Housing Bill are critical and outcomes will be closely watched by the investment community to see if their red line requirements are delivered.”

Kenneth Ross and Miller Mathieson receive SPF Honorary Lifetime Membership Awards

The evening also saw the announcement of the SPF Honorary Lifetime Membership Award. This year, it was presented to two individuals: Kenneth Ross OBE, CEO of Ross Developments and Renewables Ltd, and Miller Mathieson, the former Managing Director of global advisory firm CBRE for Scotland.  

The awards recognised the outstanding contributions of the two individuals, both of whom are former SPF chairs, to the work of the federation and the wider real estate industry in Scotland.

Mr Ross was a driving force behind the establishment of SPF in Scotland in 2006-07. He has since represented the industry on numerous government working groups, including on sustainability, building standards and housing.

Mr Mathieson was a more recent chair of the organisation. As the former MD of CBRE for Scotland, he is well known across the industry and chaired the SPF between 2018 and 2019.