Rental market - 'It adds up to an affordable housing crisis'

there has been an almost audible sigh of relief from home-owners after it emerged that interest rate rises are perhaps now likely to be put off until the autumn.

The surprise fall in the cost of living revealed in newly released inflation figures yesterday for February means the pressure on the Bank of England for an instant rise has all but vanished.

That offers just a little respite to many families as everyone tries to cope with the biggest squeeze on household spending since the 1920s.

But a little respite is all that it is likely to be with a rates hike still widely predicted within months.

If that is simply delayed bad news for those already on the property ladder, then spare a thought for those who are renting and perhaps aiming to buy.

The cost of renting basic one and two-bedroom flats in the Capital has soared by up to ten per cent in the last year.

And this at a time when the city's sky-high house prices are holding steady and mortgages are still difficult to come by without a big deposit. It all adds up to a growing affordable housing crisis in Edinburgh.

Yet that is something that we have as yet heard very little about in this Scottish Parliament election campaign.

Money is tight for public bodies too, but imaginative projects without big budgets have proved successful elsewhere.

Shelter Scotland points out, for instance, that Kent Council has brought more than 1600 empty private homes back into use by offering interest free loans to buyers. Could a repeat of that provide one solution to our problems in the Capital?

Messy situation

advertisers have used shock tactics over the years to persuade us to do everything from buy Benetton clothes to give up smoking.

So it should come as no surprise to see the council pulling the trick in their latest drive against dog fouling.

Poll after poll of city residents' concerns have shown that dog dirt is one of our biggest bugbears.

The question is, will this approach work? And the answer has to be, not a chance on its own.

The campaign could be effective if the postcards are simply window dressing for some effective patrols by environmental wardens.

But, make no mistake, it is 40 on-the-spot fines that will change the habits of the small hard core of irresponsible dog owners, not postcards.