EXCLUSIVE Calls for 'second homes' row union leader to quit as MoS reveals she has FIVE houses (and a £100k plot of land!)

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

The top union boss at the centre of a 'second homes' hypocrisy storm is facing calls to resign after it emerged she is sitting on a property empire worth £1MILLION.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal Roz Foyer – who has repeatedly condemned second home ownership – has a total of FIVE houses, as well as a £100,000 plot of land.
In a dramatic escalation of the hypocrisy row which has engulfed the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), The Mail on Sunday has discovered two further properties in her portfolio.
They include a flat in Edinburgh, a terraced house in Glasgow and a plot of unused land which she bought just three months ago.
It comes after we revealed Ms Foyer, who earns up to £100,000 a year, has a Spanish flat which she rents out for £1,000 a week AND a holiday cottage on Jura, as well as her four-bedroom family home in the leafy suburbs of north-west Glasgow.
That is despite Ms Foyer publicly blaming second home owners for exacerbating the housing and cost-of-living crisis.
Now, amid a huge backlash which has seen the trade unionist branded a 'champagne socialist' and 'a sangria-sipping one too', she faces growing pressure to resign.
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has questioned how she can continue in her role. He said: 'Scotland's leading trade unionist appears to have been more inspired by Donald Trump than Jimmy Reid.
'To secretly build a £1million property empire while railing against the supposed sin of second home ownership is hilariously hypocritical.
Just another example of Scotland's self-righteous socialist establishment telling the rest of us how to behave – while doing the complete opposite.
'How Roz Foyer thinks she can continue in her role as self-styled workers' champion is a mystery and I expect her comrades might have something to say about it.'
It comes after Mr Findlay joked on Friday that she clearly shared his party's values of working hard and reaping the rewards – and invited her to defect to his party.
Ms Foyer was the first woman appointed to the top trade union job in Scotland and represents 500,000 workers.
She has repeatedly spoken out about the impact second homes have on communities amid Scotland's 'housing emergency'.
In July 2023, she called for a 300 per cent council tax premium on second and empty homes to tackle homelessness.
Months later, she said: 'Scotland is facing a simultaneous housing and cost-of-living crisis putting an unbearable strain on working people.
'Second homes and short-term lets can have significantly negative impacts on communities, exacerbating these crises as well as undermining the local economy.'
And in February 2024 she highlighted the number of empty properties and second homes in the Highlands, saying workers there faced 'an acute housing crisis'.
But an investigation by The Mail on Sunday last week revealed Ms Foyer owns a property on the Isle of Jura with her husband, fellow union official Simon Macfarlane, which is valued at around £150,000.
It comes after Holyrood last month heard how a proliferation of holiday homes was making life harder for public sector workers in Scotland – the very people that Ms Foyer claims to represent.
Ms Foyer and Mr Macfarlane – a regional manager for the Unison union – are understood to spend most of their time with their two daughters at their Glasgow residence, which cost the family £280,111 in 2015.
However, yesterday, the Scottish Daily Mail also revealed Ms Foyer has a holiday home in Spain that is worth around £125,000.
Situated in the quaint harbour town of Puerto de Mazarrón in Murcia, the three-bedroomed apartment boasts a private balcony with panoramic views over the Mediterranean Sea and access to two communal pools.
While they are not using the flat, Ms Foyer rents it out. A week's stay from June 18 to June 25 this year would cost around £920.
Now, The Mail on Sunday can reveal Ms Foyer owns a further TWO properties.
Official records show the trade union boss bought a terraced new-build in Glasgow in 2016 for £145,000.
Additionally, she owns a 'light' and 'well-presented' two bedroom flat in Scotland's capital, which was bought last year for £240,000.
Property brochures say the flat is in an 'ideal' and 'vibrant' location and has 'access to a residents' swimming pool, gym and sauna, a leafy view over a shared courtyard garden, and a secured and gated residents' car park'.
The Mail on Sunday understands the properties are occupied by close friends and family.
However, in a move which suggests the union official may be looking to expand her property empire even further, Ms Foyer purchased a plot of land in Glasgow for £100,000 in February.
Ms Foyer last night defended her five homes, saying: 'I'm proud that the STUC has pushed for and secured a doubling of council tax on second homes and we remain committed to arguing for a proportional property tax.
'I can look in the mirror knowing that I'm actively arguing to increase my fair share to society.
'Fighting every day for fairer taxation and to spread wealth throughout the country brings its critics.
'As a woman from a working- class background, I won't be made to feel ashamed for legitimately owning property that my family and I, like of thousands of families across Scotland, have worked tirelessly for.'