POLL: Should hostels be used as temporary accommodation?
The SIC has taken the unusual step of asking people to give up vacant properties for incoming council staff.
With probationary teachers, social workers and graduates all waiting to start either in August or September, the council is urgently looking for somewhere for them to go.
NHS Shetland is also struggling to accommodate new staff, with major housing projects at the Knab and Staneyhill still years from completion.
But some people have bristled at the idea of incoming staff taking accommodation at a time when many people have been waiting on the council housing list for years.
And others have pointed to the number of empty properties across Shetland, saying these should be refurbished firstly.
Do you think that buildings like the abandoned Janet Courtney Hostel, or the new Anderson High School Halls of Residence, should be used to temporarily accommodate staff until homes can be found?
Let us know your thoughts in our poll below.
Last week’s poll asked: Do you agree that wind turbines look “pretty”?
There were over 900 responses, with 679 people (75 per cent) saying no.
Evelyn Hamilton
Why don’t the SIC and the NHS collaborate and make the hostels into small one bedded flats then they could charge rent and recoup some of the costs of remodelling them.
Garry Flaws
As you state in the article there are buildings that need to be refurbished first, the Janet Courtney is a prime example, it is currently not fit for habitation.
colin webster
Why don’t SIC start hiring some Shetlanders who already have a place to live.
William Sandison
So incoming workers are to be fast tracked into social housing thus leapfrogging Shetland people many of whome have been on waiting lists for years .Is that correct ?