TOP author Alexander McCall Smith remembers a time in the not so distant past when Edinburgh’s upmarket Grassmarket district was full of hostels for the homeless.
The writer of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – which has sold 20million copies worldwide – arrived in the Scottish capital as a teenage law student from Africa in 1965 at a time when even young couple’s could afford to live in the city centre.
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But earlier this month Edinburgh Council formally declared a housing emergency stating that approximately 5,000 households in the capital are in temporary accommodation – the highest number in Scotland.
And Alexander admits he pines for the days when the country’s first city wasn’t just a place for the wealthy or tourists packed into expensive holiday lets.
He says: “I was walking through the Grassmarket the other day and was reflecting on how decades ago there used to be quite a number of hostels there, that helped people with a room for the night.
“But all the hostels are hotels now, which is a general problem with the whole ‘Disney-fication’ of Edinburgh.
“The more we convert premises into bars and hotels for tourists, the less there is for people who need to be housed.
“Student accommodation buildings in particular go up left, right and centre in many Scottish cities mainly for overseas students.
“This is because the universities are taking in really very large numbers of overseas students, which is distorting the whole property picture.
“And if young professional couples are struggling, imagine what Edinburgh is like when you have absolutely nothing in your pocket.”
Alexander adds: “Another major problem in Edinburgh is the growth of Airbnb which has made it so expensive to buy a flat that almost everybody is being pushed out of the city.
“It’s socially destabilising as all these rentals are destroying whole communities.”
The writer is speaking out as we team up with Cyrenians, a charity which works tirelessly to tackle the root causes and consequences of homelessness. We’re asking readers to dig deep to help them.
More than 53,000 people do not have a home to call their own in Scotland, with 9,500 of those kids in temporary accommodation.
The 75-year-old was born in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – moving to Scotland when he was 17 to study at Edinburgh University.
He returned to southern Africa in the early 80s to help co-found the law school and teach law at the University of Botswana, before resettling in Edinburgh with his physician wife Elizabeth.
But in 1998 he found fame as an author for his No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which is set in Gaborone, Botswana and features fictional investigator Mma Precious Ramotswe.
In 2007 it was turned into a TV series with US star Jill Scott in the lead role.
But the dad-of-two got involved with the Cyrenians through their Community Hospital Gardens project in the grounds of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
He says: “The Cyrenians garden is terrific because it involves the local community and they grow vegetables. They have an honesty box where you can collect some tatties and pay them.
“All sorts of plants are tended in that garden, but love grows there too.
“They’re also concentrating on homelessness and particularly with people who have had psychiatric conditions or difficulties of that particular nature and who need help.
“Their staff give very practical help to people who may find themselves homeless. They provide a lifeline.
“The thing about Cyrenians is they do it in a very quiet and effective way. But they know the importance of community and looking after one another.”
At despite being in his mid-70s, Alexander shows no signs of slowing down either his charitable commitments or his writing career either.
He says: “I have a couple of other series on the go with volume 17 of my Scotland Street books, which I love doing.
“Then I have another series I’m starting in the New Year about a marriage bureau in Edinburgh.
“And after that I will start writing the 25th Precious Ramotswe story to continue my long conversation with the same characters.”
And while his neighbour Sir Ian Rankin has seen his Rebus series return to the small screen with Scots actor Richard Rankin playing the moody cop, Alexander is also hoping his own detective will make a TV comeback too.
He says: “A lot of people would like to see Precious return to the screens.
“There’s a company who has an option on it so I have been having discussions with people in Los Angeles about it.
“They’re working on the possibility but these things take forever to develop. But they are talking about bringing it back so let’s just cross fingers that they do.”
HOW TO DONATE
THIS Christmas we are urging Scottish Sun readers to support our fundraising drive to help people who don’t have a home this festive season.
Whether they are freezing on the streets or stuck in temporary accommodation, your donations will help Cyrenians in their tireless work to tackle homelessness.
Give the gift of healing at cyrenians.scot/sun or scan the QR code to donate.
Alexander will make a return to Botswana in March for the first time since covid, where he has started a literary prize project for young people.
But back home in Scotland he’s hoping that charities like Cryenians can help write a happy ending for the country’s homeless population.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
He says: “We have seen big changes over a relatively short period of time in our cities that make them almost inhabitable for locals and homeless alike.
“The truth is we need more homes and for them to be earmarked quite simply for people who need a roof over their heads.”
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