Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

– in the Scottish Parliament at 3:12 pm on 28 November 2024.

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Photo of Annabelle Ewing Annabelle Ewing Scottish National Party 3:12, 28 November 2024

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-15605, in the name of Paul McLennan, on the Housing (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. I ask members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak button.

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party 3:52, 28 November 2024

In March this year, the bill was introduced to the Parliament to bring forward a package of reforms that will help to ensure that people have a safe, secure and affordable place to live. We know that a good-quality, affordable and well-regulated housing system can help to tackle poverty, including for families with children, as well as promote equality and support wellbeing.

Eradicating child poverty remains a Government priority, and I am sure that we can all agree that having a home can make a direct contribution to that. That is why ensuring that families can have safe, secure and affordable homes that meet their needs is part of our approach to tackling the housing emergency.

Scotland needs a thriving private rented sector that offers good-quality, affordable housing options and values the benefit that investment in rented property delivers. The Government has a strong record of acting to protect tenants, and Scotland has some of the strongest tenants’ rights in the world. The introduction of a long-term system of rent control for Scotland will build on that record.

The latest Scottish Government statistics show that the average advertised rent for two-bedroom properties increased by 6.2 per cent in the 12 months ending in September 2024, which was more than double the average level of inflation during that period. There was variation across areas of Scotland, with average rent increases of 14 per cent in Lothian. The scale of private rent rises across Scotland demonstrates the need for action to tackle rising rent levels.

People who rent their homes are more likely to live in poverty, be financially vulnerable and live on low incomes compared with those who own their home outright or with a mortgage. That is why the Government is deeply disappointed at the United Kingdom Government’s decision in its recent budget to freeze the local housing allowance.

The principle of introducing rent controls has broad support in Scotland, with recent YouGov polling showing that 82 per cent of respondents supported their introduction, including 61 per cent of Conservative voters who responded.

Throughout the stage 1 process, we have been listening to stakeholders and have heard their calls for more certainty on the effect of rent control. We have acted, with stakeholders welcoming the clarity that was provided by the recent statement that confirmed the form of the rent cap and the consultation in spring 2025, which will support consideration of how powers to exempt certain types of property from rent control could be used.

Photo of Meghan Gallacher Meghan Gallacher Conservative

I have a question about rent controls. The Scottish Government has decided to maintain rent controls between tenancies. How will that help developers and people in the private rented sector who are trying to navigate the Scottish Government’s proposals?

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party

I will come on to that point later in my speech. One of the most important points when it comes to the situation between tenancies is to make sure that we do not have a two-tier rental system. However, I will address the issue of investment later in my speech.

In spring 2025, we will carry out a consultation to support consideration of how powers to exempt certain types of property from rent controls could be used. That will include consideration of how new housing that is built or developed specifically for private rent, including for mid-market rent, would be treated and of the circumstances in which rents might be increased above the level of the rent cap.

Although we consider that any exemptions from rent control should be set out in secondary legislation, we are taking steps to hold the consultation early, while the bill is still being progressed, to ensure that those regulations can be laid at the earliest opportunity if the bill is passed.

The bill proposes wider reforms of the rented sector, which include a range of changes that will help to improve how the rented sector operates and the renting experience of tenants. In recognition of the fact that there are certain circumstances and times of year when being evicted can be particularly problematic, the bill imposes a duty on the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland and courts to consider whether the enforcement of an eviction should be delayed, except in certain circumstances. In cases of antisocial or criminal behaviour, it would rarely be reasonable to delay an eviction.

The bill will help to improve the renting experience by strengthening the right of private residential tenants to make certain changes to their home and by giving most private and social tenants the right to ask to keep a pet and not be unreasonably refused. Last week, I visited the Scottish SPCA’s Edinburgh rescue centre and heard how the measures in the bill will make a real difference in helping families to keep their pets.

The measures in the bill also include changes that reform how civil damages for unlawful eviction are calculated and that make it easier for a tenant to seek damages for an unlawful eviction. In addition, the bill will enable unclaimed tenancy deposit funds to be used for the benefit of private rented sector tenants.

On domestic abuse, the bill is designed to provide an additional mechanism for joint tenants to end a tenancy in situations in which there is no mutual agreement. That will ensure that no joint tenant can be trapped in a tenancy indefinitely against their will, which is important in cases in which domestic abuse is a factor.

We know that men and women experience homelessness differently. Our response to their housing needs is also different. Our focus on domestic abuse is key, as domestic abuse is one of the main reasons why women make homelessness applications. Twenty-three per cent of the women who sought homelessness assistance in 2023-24 cited as their reason for doing so violent or abusive disputes in the household.

The bill will update the definition of domestic abuse in relation to housing allocations and homelessness legislation to recognise the wide range of behaviours that constitute domestic abuse, which include coercive control. The bill will also put a duty on social landlords to outline in their domestic abuse policy how they will support tenants who are experiencing domestic abuse to prevent them from becoming homeless.

The measures in the bill aim to put a renewed focus on homelessness prevention so that individuals and families do not have to experience the trauma and disruption to lives that homelessness causes. We want to help to keep people in their homes, whenever that is possible and appropriate, and, in the longer term, we want to ensure that there is less pressure on housing supply and public resources.

The measures in the bill have been guided by the principles of shared public responsibility, earlier intervention across systems and the provision of more choice and control over housing options through avoiding the crisis of homelessness. The new ask and act duties for a range of relevant bodies in areas such as health and justice are bold, and they reach further than similar duties that have been introduced elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Crucially, the source of the ask and act duties lies in the recommendations of those who have lived experience of homelessness, who pointed to the missed opportunities to prevent homelessness that they had encountered.

Although Scotland has some of the strongest rights in the world for people who become homeless, the bill gives us an important opportunity to introduce measures to help to better protect people who are threatened with homelessness and to shift the focus to early intervention and co-operation across services.

There has been extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation to help to inform the development of the measures in the bill, and that engagement will continue as the bill progresses through Parliament. I hope that we can agree that the general principles of the bill are ones that will be welcomed across Scotland.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Housing (Scotland) Bill.

Photo of Ariane Burgess Ariane Burgess Green 3:59, 28 November 2024

It is my pleasure to speak in this stage 1 debate on the Housing (Scotland) Bill on behalf of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, which was the lead committee in scrutinising the bill.

I first thank all those who shared with us their experience of, and expertise about, the housing sector and, in particular, all the members of the tenants and landlords panels that the committee brought together in order to learn from their experiences.

We know all too well that Scotland is in the midst of a housing emergency and we see the human cost of that across the country every day as increasing numbers of homeless people struggle to access housing. The timing of the bill is therefore critical and it presents an opportunity to help tackle some of the issues underpinning that emergency.

We know that the cost of private rental is far too high for many people; we heard the minister address that issue earlier. Rent control areas present an opportunity to redress that, and we must create a more equal balance of power between tenants and landlords. Rent control proved to be the most contentious issue during our scrutiny of the bill. The committee heard that without rent control prices will continue to spiral, but we also heard that rent controls might bring the risk of deterring investment in new properties and that landlords might leave the sector. On balance, a majority of committee members supported the principle of having rent control measures, but the bill as introduced provides limited detail about how those will operate. We heard repeatedly during our scrutiny that that lack of clarity was having a harmful effect on the housing sector.

Shortly before the committee finalised its report on the bill on 31 October, the minister announced that the Government will lodge amendments at stage 2 to place a cap on rent increases, with the stated intention being to give the housing market more certainty about the implications of the bill. However, the fact that that decision from the Government came so late in the stage 1 process meant that the committee was unable to scrutinise the implications of that revised approach. As a result, we will carry out further evidence sessions early in the new year, and we will look specifically at the proposed amendments relating to the rent cap.

We have asked the minister to lodge amendments before those meetings, in order to inform our scrutiny. I was pleased that, in his response to our report, which we received yesterday, he confirmed his intention to do so. He also announced that there will be further Government consultation next year about when exemptions might apply to rent controls. The Scottish Government response appears to suggest that it is normal practice to have on-going consultation during the scrutiny of a bill, but we do not believe that that is conducive to good scrutiny. Failure to come to Parliament with fully developed legislation undermines the role of Parliament and creates uncertainty for all stakeholders.

I will look in more detail at the bill’s rent control provisions, which require local authorities to gather data about the market in their areas in order to make a case to the Government for a rent control area to be established. The committee is concerned about the capacity of local authorities to gather the necessary data to inform decision making, given the existing financial challenges. [ Interruption .] Local authorities have existing legal powers to create rent pressure zones, but not one has been established since the legislation created those powers in 2016, and the committee heard that lack of data is the key reason for that. There should therefore be a national approach to data collection and analysis, to be led and resourced by the Scottish Government. It is disappointing that the Government’s response to the committee’s report does not take that on board. There is a real risk that rent control areas will end up meeting the same fate as rent pressure zones.

I have focused so far on the issue of rent control because it is central to the purpose of the bill. However, the bill contains a number of provisions that aim to give further protection to tenants in other areas, to which I will now turn. I highlight the fact that the Social Justice and Social Security Committee scrutinised the parts of the bill that relate to homelessness and to fuel poverty.

Part 2 of the bill deals with evictions and, importantly, gives the First-tier Tribunal the power to delay the eviction of a tenant in some cases in order to help reduce the negative impact of eviction. Witnesses told us that that already happens in practice and welcomed the fact that it will be put on a statutory footing.

Part 3 of the bill gives tenants the right to request to keep a pet and to personalise their home. Both are important rights that the committee supports and that were largely welcomed by our witnesses from all sectors, in recognition that private rented properties are, first and foremost, people’s homes.

Time does not allow me to go into detail on the various other provisions elsewhere in the bill that the committee considered. Those include the powers for the Government to use unclaimed rental deposits, and changes to how joint tenancies can be ended, both of which the committee is broadly in agreement with.

I conclude by reiterating the committee’s support for the general principles of the bill. It is my hope that the bill has a positive impact on the private rented sector. At a time of emergency in our housing system, I look forward to hearing my colleagues’ contributions to the debate. The committee will continue its constructive work with the Scottish Government on this vital issue.

Photo of Liam McArthur Liam McArthur Liberal Democrat

Thank you, Ms Burgess. I am sure that Christine Grahame will want to offer you an apology for interrupting your speech. I call Collette Stevenson to speak on behalf of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee.

Photo of Collette Stevenson Collette Stevenson Scottish National Party 4:06, 28 November 2024

I am pleased to contribute to the debate on behalf of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. Most of the committee’s consideration of the Housing (Scotland) Bill was focused on part 5—homelessness prevention—and my comments today also focus on that part. However, we also looked at a small element of part 6, on fuel poverty, which we are supportive of.

In scrutinising part 5, we gathered views from a wide range of stakeholders, and I thank those who contributed their views. We pay particular thanks to those who attended and provided valuable testimony at the lived experience engagement session that was facilitated by Crisis. Many witnesses were positive about the expected impact of the legislation. Scottish Women’s Aid explained that if every sector considered

“the importance of having a home as the core of what they are working towards, that would go a long way towards making things better”.—[Official Report, Social Justice and Social Security Committee, 13 June 2024; c 38.]

Although we are supportive of part 5 overall, the committee believes that there are areas where more information is needed, such as how the ask and act duty will work in practice, the scope of provisions relating to domestic abuse and how the fulfilment of statutory duties will be monitored.

The duty on relevant bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation and to act to prevent homelessness is fundamental, and although there was broad support for it, there was concern that the act element might end up being an additional route to local authority referral. In the minister’s response to our report, he said that the Scottish Government is “committed to ensuring” that the duty works as intended, whether amendments are made at stage 2 or clarification is built into subordinate legislation or guidance. The importance of relevant bodies understanding what is expected of them cannot be overlooked, and we ask to be kept informed of developments.

The second element of the bill that I will focus on is the domestic abuse provisions. Again, the committee is supportive of those provisions, although we have called on the Scottish Government to ensure that, where domestic abuse might have contributed to rent arrears, provisions should apply to the private rented sector as well as to the social sector. The Scottish Government has said that it will review pre-action protocols that apply to the private rented sector and

“consider what changes would support landlords to recognise”

the effect of domestic abuse. With that in mind, the committee would like to know how that will work, how it will be done and when the work will be completed.

The bill rests on the extent to which relevant bodies fulfil statutory duties to prevent homelessness. In our report, we asked the Scottish Government for more information about how that would be monitored. We also asked how an individual could seek a review of a relevant body. In response, the minister said that

“it will be up to ... relevant bodies to satisfy themselves that they are meeting those duties.”

The question of how an individual seeks a review of a relevant body’s actions remains unclear, and we would welcome being advised of developments in that area.

Beyond those aspects, the committee wishes to be kept informed of developing guidance on the flexibility of the six-month timeframe during which someone is considered to be threatened with homelessness. Members also want to know how conversations are progressing between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office about potential co-operation to achieve the aims of the legislation.

Importantly, we also want the Scottish Government to ensure that the committee is aware of any changes to the financial memorandum, about which some witnesses had doubts.

Despite the committee’s seeking more detail, we recognise that, if the bill is implemented and works as envisioned, not only could its measures help many people to avoid the trauma of homelessness but public services and the public purse could benefit, through early interventions. The committee is therefore in favour of parts 5 and 6 of the bill, and recommended that the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee support them.

Photo of Liam McArthur Liam McArthur Liberal Democrat

Before I call the next speaker, I confirm that we have no time at all in hand, so members will have to stick to their speaking allocations.

With that, I call Meghan Gallacher, who has up to six minutes.

Photo of Meghan Gallacher Meghan Gallacher Conservative 4:11, 28 November 2024

I will try my best, Presiding Officer.

I begin my remarks on a point of consensus. Recently, my colleague Graham Simpson and I met the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and the minister to discuss the Housing (Scotland) Bill. I found the meeting useful and, although there were clear dividing lines over some areas of the bill, I believe that there are areas on which we can work constructively together, should the bill pass stage 1 today.

One such area is homelessness prevention. As we speak, more than 15,000 children in Scotland are homeless. That figure should shame each and every one of us. Last night, I received a huge volume of emails in my inbox about homelessness services, which are a priority for my constituents and for my party. There is scope for the bill to make vast improvements for anyone who finds themselves without a home or who finds themselves sleeping rough. Scotland is in the grip of a devastating housing emergency, which is destroying lives. My party will commit to working across the parties, where possible, to make much-needed changes to the bill, because we believe that everyone in Scotland deserves the right to a safe home.

However, the bill that is in front of us—the bill that we are being asked to scrutinise—is not a housing bill. What we have been presented with will not, in itself, tackle the housing emergency. The minister has the nerve to say that the bill will ensure that Scots can access an affordable rented home. He refuses to say that the Scottish National Party’s botched rent control policy has driven up rents and priced thousands of Scots out of their homes. That is typical of the SNP—what it says and what it does never match up.

The last time that the SNP introduced rent controls, it was a disaster. More than 21,000 flats and houses disappeared from Scotland’s private rental sector in a single year.

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party

The member called the previous rent controls “a disaster”. Those were about keeping people in their homes. If that was a disaster, I would welcome more of them.

It was not a disaster. It was about keeping people in their homes at a really difficult time. The rent controls that we are looking at now are about making sure that people have an affordable and safe place to stay. I am sorry, but I cannot accept that the previous form of rent controls was “a disaster”.

Photo of Meghan Gallacher Meghan Gallacher Conservative

There was a loss in investment. We need to tackle the housing emergency, and to tackle the housing emergency, we need to build more homes. We cannot afford for £3.2 billion of investment to disappear into thin air because of permanent rent controls that are being brought in by the SNP. That is not good policy.

Photo of Meghan Gallacher Meghan Gallacher Conservative

No—I have been kind enough to give the minister one intervention.

Between September 2022 and March 2024, when rent controls were active, private rents increased by 16.5 per cent. That shows that rent controls do not work. It is a failed experiment.

The rent control proposal is causing concern not just in my party but among private home providers in the housing sector. Although some have welcomed the link to inflation for rent caps, that is insufficient on its own and could be a major barrier to investment. The housing industry has repeatedly warned that restrictions amount to price fixing and would limit rental income flexibility, distort the market and reduce the scope to improve and upgrade tired homes. The consequences of that will impact value, viability and delivery and make Scotland an unattractive destination for the substantial capital that is needed to build new high-quality rental housing.

The bill will stifle the ambition to deliver more homes for Scotland. There is also a lack of clarity on build-to-rent exemptions. Investors are in limbo because they do not have certainty from the Government in order to push ahead with multimillion pound investment decisions. Although there have been commitments to holding further consultation processes and engagement sessions with stakeholders, the critical detail of the legislation might not be clear until at least the summer of 2025, which will prolong the uncertainty.

The SNP has not listened to stakeholders. Despite a year of consultations with the industry, including that of the housing investment task force, the SNP has dismissed numerous common-sense suggestions, such as removing rent controls between tenancies. Controls between tenancies will reduce overall rental stock from existing private housing providers, which continue to exit the sector, and that makes tenants more vulnerable in an increasingly constrained market. If the SNP was minded to change its position on that matter, that would provide greater predictability and certainty for investors while protecting tenants, which, in turn, would stimulate housing supply instead of suffocating it, which is what the bill does at present.

For the reasons that I have outlined, the Scottish Conservatives cannot vote for a bill that is a direct attack on the prosperity of our nation. At a time when the SNP should be encouraging economic growth, we have a bill that will harm the industry. A range of large-scale, credible and capable construction companies are folding, and when we lose them, we will lose critical skills that will not be replaced.

The bill was an opportunity to open the door to discussions in order to tackle the big problems in our housing sector, but the SNP has failed in its mission. It has failed to take the housing emergency seriously, and it is dismantling the housing sector brick by brick. My party will not sit back and allow the SNP to take a wrecking ball to an already fragile sector.

Photo of Mark Griffin Mark Griffin Labour 4:17, 28 November 2024

The bill’s policy memorandum says that

“The Bill is ambitious in responding to the need to improve ... housing outcomes”.

The Government has said that the bill delivers the reforms to

“ensure people have a safe, secure, and affordable place to live”

and that its ambition is to “end homelessness in Scotland.” However, 13 local authorities have declared a housing emergency, with more on the brink of doing so. Last year, there were 40,000 homelessness applications. Nearly half of people in Scotland live in areas where homelessness services are broken or at breaking point. Some 10,000 children are in temporary accommodation, nearly 250 people died on Scotland’s streets last year, and almost one in three people in Scotland is in some form of housing need.

The bill does not need to be “ambitious”; it needs to be revolutionary, because stakeholder after stakeholder—Shelter, Crisis, the Scottish Property Federation, Homes for Scotland and even the Competition and Markets Authority—has been clear that the cause of the housing emergency is the shortage of affordable homes and that the demand for homes far outstrips the supply. That is what is creating spiralling rents, with an average increase of 10.7 per cent for a three-bedroom home last year. It is the lack of supply that has created the desperate need for temporary accommodation and pushed people who would benefit from being in social or mid-market homes into the private rented sector. We will deliver the revolution in our housing system only if we address that cause.

However, the bill attempts only to manage the symptoms of that chronic lack of supply. The lack of clarity about rent controls when the bill was introduced made things worse. There are landlords who are considering leaving the private rented sector, which would leave their tenants with nowhere to go.

I am relieved that some measure of stability has been reintroduced, but big issues remain, with the bill suppressing the ability of developers to invest in the affordable and social build-to-rent and mid-market rented homes that are so desperately needed. The Government’s chaotic approach has led to—

Photo of Mark Griffin Mark Griffin Labour

Briefly—I have only five minutes.

Photo of Meghan Gallacher Meghan Gallacher Conservative

It is a simple question. Does Mark Griffin believe that rent controls should be linked to the tenancy or the property?

Photo of Mark Griffin Mark Griffin Labour

I look forward to lodging amendments to link rent controls to a tenancy, because there are huge issues around the investment in and upgrades to out-of-date housing stock that we need to see. There are net zero ambitions that we want to reach and I cannot for the life of me see how linking rent increases to the tenancy will ever see that investment realised. I hope that that is something that we can address.

The bill is fairly substantive, but members have only five, six or seven minutes to speak about it, so we will not be able to get into the weeds of a lot of the details that we need to discuss today. However, as I said, if we are to support the bill at stage 3, significant amendments need to be lodged to ensure that the bill ends the housing emergency and does not just manage the system.

One thing that I find confusing is that this is a housing bill that does not build one single house. It appears to have confused the First Minister today, too. In response to Meghan Gallacher at First Minister’s question time, he said that the Government is trying to take steps to improve the availability of rented accommodation and that that will be part of the housing bill that Parliament is considering this afternoon. However, there is clearly a disconnect in Government, because the bill does nothing to increase the supply of housing. I absolutely agree with the First Minister that it should—

Photo of Mark Griffin Mark Griffin Labour

I am sorry, Mr Mason, but I do not have time.

In contrast, my colleagues in the UK Government have instigated a step change in housing policy since the election in July.

Photo of Mark Griffin Mark Griffin Labour

I am sorry, minister, but I am in my last 30 seconds.

Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million homes in its first term in office, with an annual target of 300,000 homes a year. It is using all the levers of Government, from establishing processes to build new towns to amending planning policy to remove the blocks to building new homes.

Labour has taken that action over the past four months. The housing sector in Scotland is looking on enviously at the reforms that we are seeing across the UK, for which we have been waiting for the past 17 years.

The fundamental issue in Scotland is that we need more homes. The proposed legislation will not tackle that, and, unless we amend it to ensure that it treats the root causes of the housing emergency, we will not see the progress that we need to see.

Photo of Maggie Chapman Maggie Chapman Green 4:22, 28 November 2024

Presiding Officer,

“I am currently a single parent working as a nurse, and this rent amount is already half my nurse’s earnings. I physically would be homeless if I was not being topped up by universal credit. I am already struggling to get by, made worse by the current cost of living crisis.”

“It shouldn’t be possible to be slowly priced out of your own home, a home that you have been living in for years.”

Those are the words of tenants, many of whom, alongside Living Rent, gathered outside Parliament last night to demand rent controls that tackle ever-increasing rents. It is right that we hear their words today, as it is their tireless campaigning that meant that, earlier this year, Patrick Harvie was able to introduce the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which the Scottish Greens hope will be part of a new deal for tenants.

We are in the midst of a housing emergency—a crisis of soaring rents, insecure tenancies and a power imbalance that leaves thousands of Scots struggling to keep a roof over their heads. The Housing (Scotland) Bill offered hope to tenants—a recognition that bold, transformative action is needed to shift the scales of housing justice in Scotland, so I must express profound disappointment in the Government’s decision to dilute the promise of rent controls. Limiting councils to capping rent increases at inflation plus 1 per cent is not transformation; it is capitulation to landlord interests that will perpetuate the very inequalities that the bill was meant to address.

Let us be absolutely clear: tying rent increases to inflation plus 1 per cent is not rent control—it is rent legitimisation. At a time when tenants are already struggling with the soaring costs of living, that measure enshrines perpetual rent increases into law. It is a green light for landlords to continue shifting their financial burdens on to tenants, many of whom are already at breaking point. It undermines the ability of local authorities to protect tenants from predatory rent hikes. Councils will not be able to bring rents down. The clear message from the Scottish Government is that its priority is not empowering local authorities or addressing tenant insecurity but appeasing landlords.

I will return to the issue of balancing tenants rights and investment in my closing remarks, but I will first mention the important homelessness prevention measures in the bill. As has been stated by Crisis, Shelter and so many other organisations that work day in, day out, supporting people who are at risk of homelessness or who are actually homeless, the best way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

The measures in the bill come from years of work and discussion across a range of stakeholders. Importantly, they recognise that tackling homelessness is not just about housing supply or affordability. That work must intersect with social security, health and social care services, support for community capacity building and so much more. Strengthening those aspects of the bill must remain a priority in on-going discussions as the bill progresses though subsequent stages.

Scotland deserves a housing system that works for everyone—not just for landlords and not just for developers, but for tenants, families and communities. We have a duty to the people of Scotland to ensure that the bill reflects the values that we aspire to: fairness, security and dignity in housing. I call on the Government to reconsider its approach to rent controls, to listen to the voices of tenants and to deliver the truly transformative housing legislation that Scotland so desperately needs.

Photo of Willie Rennie Willie Rennie Liberal Democrat 4:26, 28 November 2024

I have great sympathy with the case studies that Maggie Chapman has highlighted, but the truth is that the most effective way to bring down rents is to increase supply to match demand—and there is growing demand, in our cities in particular. That is what is driving up rents, and the failure to increase supply has resulted in crisis.

I hope that the bill marks a turning point in the approach of the Government. For too long, the message was that private companies and landlords in the housing sector were the problem, rather than a partner. The cold, hard reality has now struck: the evidence is clear that investors are just walking away. The Chartered Institute of Housing tells us there is a growing body of evidence that private landlords are leaving the market. Some 72 per cent of local authorities responding to the CIH’s PRS research stated that the sector was shrinking in their area, and 52 per cent were concerned about increasing homeless presentations from the private rented sector. That is a clear example of the Government’s policy damaging the very people that it was aiming to protect. That is why we need to listen to the evidence provided by companies such as Rettie & Co, which said last year that £3.2 billion of potential investment was “at risk”, and the regulatory uncertainty has reduced the appetite to invest in Scotland. All that is in the middle of a housing emergency, which is the last time that we need that kind of hesitancy.

People who are desperate for a home will not forgive us or thank us if we fail to create the right conditions to build more homes of good quality more quickly. There is no way that housing associations, councils and Government can tackle the housing emergency on their own. We need a longer-term strategy, with partnership at the heart of it.

The minister hinted in a previous statement that he is looking to exclude mid-market rents and build to rent. I welcome that, as it is a step in the right direction. However, he needs to be clearer, and that needs to be specified in the bill. We cannot wait for yet another consultation. We need to have that in primary legislation, rather than in regulation, so that the investors that I was talking about know that there is longer-term certainty.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations reports that, if MMR were to fall under the PRS rent controls, that would make developing new homes unviable, due to the structure of funding and the need for lengthy business plans. It says that there has already been a significant slowdown in the development of MMR homes, with the starts of new homes in the category of “other affordable rent homes” at their lowest level for 10 years. I remind everyone that that is in the middle of a housing emergency.

Photo of Willie Rennie Willie Rennie Liberal Democrat

No, I have only four minutes.

The situation is replicated in the private sector, despite the fact that demand for MMR is consistently high, far outstripping supply. We need greater clarity on the scope and nature of the suggested exemptions for MMR and the build-to-rent sector.

We are sceptical about rent controls as a whole, but the Government’s plan to limit rent increases to the consumer prices index plus 1 per cent might be sufficient to give investors the confidence that they need. It would stop large rent rises, while allowing for modest increases to ensure that repairs and upgrades are done. However, we want to look at controls in between tenancies and the impact that that might have on essential investments and upgrades that often take place when there is a change in tenancy. It is all about ensuring that we stand for tenants, improve the supply of available properties for tenancies, and ensure that there is good quality accommodation.

I support the other measures in the bill on homelessness and domestic abuse.

Photo of Liam McArthur Liam McArthur Liberal Democrat

You need to conclude, Mr Rennie.

Photo of Willie Rennie Willie Rennie Liberal Democrat

At the heart of it, we need to ensure that we drive investment back into the sector so that we can deal with the housing emergency.

Photo of Willie Coffey Willie Coffey Scottish National Party 4:31, 28 November 2024

It is a privilege to be able to speak in support of the bill at stage 1. I am pleased that colleagues from the Greens and the Labour Party support the general principles of the bill, and I hope that that will continue at decision time.

The bill is needed. In the main, it is about offering protection against unfair rent rises in the private rented sector in Scotland. It also contains measures to tackle homelessness, and empowers tenants to enjoy some of the things that others have taken for granted for many years, such as being able to decorate your own home and keep a pet without needing permission from a landlord to do so. Imagine, we are in 2024 and a significant number of people in Scotland are not permitted to do those ordinary things—it is time that that changed.

Curiously, the prophets of doom who predicted that there would be a mass exit of private rented accommodation have been proved wrong again, with the latest figures showing that the total number of properties for rent in Scotland has gone up by about 10,000 since 2022. The bill cannot do everything, of course, and we will no doubt hear more from members about what it does not do than what it does do. In my view, it does the important things in that it offers protection from unfair and excessive rent rises in the private sector, when the cost of living, in many respects, is pushing more and more people into poverty and towards homelessness.

An article in the media today highlighted the plight of a person who faced an astonishing rent rise demand of 34 per cent from his landlord. He was unable to pay that and said that the whole experience was tantamount to an eviction. We have to try to help to prevent those situations, and I hope that the bill will do just that by limiting the rent rise that can be applied to the consumer prices index plus 1 per cent, to a maximum of 6 per cent.

The bill also strengthens a tenant’s ability to keep and stay in their home, and places requirements on social landlords and public bodies to ask and act as a means of preventing homelessness. That extends to provisions for social housing tenants who are experiencing domestic abuse. There will be a requirement to intervene six months before homelessness appears to be imminent, rather than the current requirement at two months. Some stakeholders, including Crisis, have said that those duties to try to prevent homelessness, if approved by the Parliament, could make Scotland a world leader in that regard.

A wider range of issues were taken in evidence during the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee’s consideration of the bill. The housing emergency that has been declared by some authorities and the need to build more homes featured highly, and will no doubt be covered by members in the debate. It was really encouraging to hear from the City of Edinburgh Council that it had recovered about 500 houses that were long-term empty homes and had put them back into the letting pool. That type of initiative, in association with council buy-back schemes and refurbishments, which has been done by East Ayrshire Council in my region, will have a positive effect on reducing homelessness. I recognise that that is not the entire solution, but it is making a difference.

Times are tough, and costs are excessively high, but the Scottish Government has a good record in this area. Meeting the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 is a challenge, but we have managed to keep on track to date, with nearly 23,000 homes having been completed so far.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill is an excellent step forward in providing some of those long-overdue protections for tenants in Scotland, along with some, equally long-overdue, modernisation of the relationship between tenants and private landlords. It means that a rented home in Scotland will be much more of a home than it ever has been before, and that surely has to be supported. I commend the bill to the Parliament.

Photo of Jeremy Balfour Jeremy Balfour Conservative 4:35, 28 November 2024

Just over a year ago, the Parliament passed a motion that declared that Scotland was in the grip of “a housing emergency.” Of course, as with many things, the Scottish Government was far too late in admitting that it had presided over the creation of that crisis, and there has been no meaningful action over the past year to address the growing problem. In that time, vulnerable people have continued to struggle to find accommodation, as rents and house prices continue to rise at an alarming rate.

Finally, we have been presented with a bill that is thin gruel to a starving man, and the centrepiece of it is rent controls. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and every effort to introduce rent controls around the world has ended in the same way.

Over the past couple of years, the SNP-Green rent controls have led to £3.2 million of lost investment and an increase of 16.5 per cent in average rents. Those devastating effects have been felt in my Lothian region in particular, where an already difficult rental market has been made even harder.

In the face of all that failure, what is the Scottish Government’s plan? It is to double down and make those controls permanent. Words fail me.

Turning to the homelessness prevention part of the bill, I welcome the fact that the Government is seeking to address homelessness. However, yet again, the bill falls woefully short. We have to ask ourselves what measures in the bill will actually make a difference on the ground. The ask and act provisions are commendable, but it is unclear what difference they will make. We can give public bodies a legal duty to ask and act, but we have to make it clear what such action entails. From my reading of the bill, I have no idea what an individual working in a relevant body will be required to do when they encounter someone who is at risk of homelessness.

The SNP has a tendency to make big announcements and then fail to follow them up with any detail or positive action. I hope that we will learn from those mistakes, because, without proper follow-up, the bill will make no difference to the lives of homeless people in Scotland.

We need detail, but, unfortunately, the bill does not provide any. We need a clear plan on funding and implementation, neither of which is addressed in the bill. However, as always, I want to work constructively with the Scottish Government in its efforts to tackle homelessness, and I look forward to discussing stage 2 amendments with it. It remains a national shame that we have so many people without a safe place to call home. Solutions will require cross-party working and cross-portfolio policies that address the core causes.

I wish that I could get on board with a bill that seeks to address homelessness, but the rent controls will have a devastating impact on the housing market, the rental market and the economy in general. For that reason, I will not be voting for the general principles of the bill tonight.

Photo of Rhoda Grant Rhoda Grant Labour 4:39, 28 November 2024

It is difficult to see what the bill will do to provide housing for people in rural areas. The Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report on economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands paints a bleak picture, and it talks about homelessness and its impact on depopulation. It calls the rural and islands housing action plan a “positive development”, but, sadly, we all know that the plan does more to benefit commuter towns than rural villages, due to the way in which the Scottish Government categorises areas that are eligible for rural housing funding, and nothing in the bill changes that.

The report states that people are left roofless because of the lack of affordable housing in rural areas and the fact that private rents are out of local people’s reach. If they are lucky enough to qualify for affordable housing, they find that none is available locally. If they are homeless and turn down a housing offer because it is too many miles away from where they need to be, they are no longer deemed to be homeless. That is the case even if they cannot access their job or their family from the house that they have been offered.

People often live in precarious substandard housing and depend on the good will of family and friends for the roof over their heads. The Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report states that the lack of affordable housing is

“the single biggest issue contributing to depopulation”,

with many people

“living in caravans ... camping pods and sofa surfing”.

The bill does nothing to address that. Therefore, I ask the cabinet secretary to change the categorisation of rural areas in the bill to ensure that rural housing is never again built in urban areas.

Private rentals are really hard to come by in rural areas, and employers are now building homes for their own workforces. While they need to do that to attract workers, that brings us right back to tied housing, with people unable to change their job without facing losing their home. It also makes it more difficult for people to challenge their housing conditions if their employer is also their housing provider.

That is the crisis point that we have reached, but nothing in the bill addresses any of that. Sadly, we have also learned that Rural Housing Scotland is closing its doors due to lack of funding, and that is happening at a time when rural areas need more advocacy rather than less.

The bill sets out a requirement for all social landlords to develop and implement a domestic abuse policy, which is very welcome. Social landlords are well placed to spot signs of abuse such as control of finances. They are also able to assist abused people to remain at home while securing the property by fitting things such as panic alarms and other adaptations to keep them safe. We all know that those who flee domestic abuse in rural areas are often forced to move far away from home, which disrupts education for young people and support systems for the survivor. Much more has to be done to allow people who are subjected to domestic abuse to leave abusive relationships without the rest of their lives being turned upside down.

I hope that the bill will be significantly amended as it proceeds through its parliamentary stages, so that it can make a real difference to the lives of the people we serve.

Photo of Emma Roddick Emma Roddick Scottish National Party 4:43, 28 November 2024

There is so much in the bill that I would love to speak about today, including the right to keep a pet—which my cat, Blue, joined me on screen in committee to support—but I will focus my contribution on rent controls. It would have been easy, under pressure from landlords, to drop that policy, so I am glad that the Scottish Government has done the right thing and stuck to it.

Eighty-two per cent of Scots support a form of rent control. A minority of the other 18 per cent might be loud, litigious and likely to complain, but that does not make them right.

A couple of weeks ago, Future Economy Scotland briefed MSPs on the benefits of rent controls if they are done correctly. Some of the data that was shared was terrifying, even for someone who has experienced homelessness and talks housing on a weekly basis. We were told that private renters on the lowest incomes spend almost 50 per cent of their income on rent alone. We were reminded that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recently found that advanced economies without rent controls are in the minority—only 18 countries have no form of rent control, whereas 23 do. We heard that, despite continuing investment from the Scottish Government to mitigate UK policies such as the bedroom tax, 140,000 people, including 50,000 children, live in housing-induced poverty, which they would not be in if it were not for housing costs.

All that shows that rent controls can save the public purse. The Government is paying out to supplement rent payments for those who face unfair rises in the form of housing payments that go straight to private landlords. Instead, we should spend that money on supporting people out of poverty altogether.

As if any further evidence of need were required, this week, statistics were published that show that average rent in the Highlands and Islands has risen by 67 per cent since 2010, and I am well aware that that figure will be hiding low increases in some places where even the council struggles to fill its homes, as well as extreme increases in places such as Inverness.

I have already met the Minister for Housing to discuss potential changes at stage 2 to strengthen the bill. In particular, I hope that he will consider amendments that seek to rebalance the power dynamic between private landlords and their tenants. The penalties for breaking the rules on rent increases or evictions must be more than a risk worth taking for a landlord who wants to make as much money as possible. The system must also be fair to landlords who care and stick to the rules; they cannot look around and see others benefiting from poor behaviour.

The facts on rent levels cannot remain up for debate. Frequently, those on both sides of the argument say that we do not have the evidence, data or knowledge required to justify action or inaction. That is within our control. We can require information to be provided rather than ask local authorities to ask landlords to have a think about sending it in. It is not a tall order to want to know what somebody is charging for something as fundamental as a home.

Ariane Burgess made the important point that the need for a rent control area, when evidenced, should result in a rent control area. We cannot repeat what happened with rent pressure zones, which even keen councils did not manage to introduce. As someone who sat in a council in which two thirds of the attendees declared interests in relation to such controls but stayed to vote against them anyway, I know that there must be a willingness to step in when the need for intervention is clear, as we should always prioritise the need to protect tenants.

I will conclude by repeating that it is encouraging that the Scottish Government is continuing with worthwhile protections for tenants and measures to prevent homelessness. Those are valuable causes, and I look forward to working with the Minister for Housing to ensure that our shared aims are achieved.

Photo of Liam McArthur Liam McArthur Liberal Democrat

We move to closing speeches. I note that Mr Rennie, who participated in the debate, is not in his seat. I will expect an explanation and, indeed, an apology.

Photo of Maggie Chapman Maggie Chapman Green 4:47, 28 November 2024

I offer my sincere thanks to all those involved in the stage 1 scrutiny of the bill, including committee members, clerks, witnesses, and even those with whom I profoundly disagree. I also put on record my thanks for the on-going work with regard to the parliamentary process, including all the briefings that we have received for today’s debate and all the conversations about how to make the different provisions in the bill as robust as possible.

I am grateful to the other members who have highlighted the bill’s important provisions on eviction protections, on domestic abuse, and on decorating and keeping pets, which would give tenants the ability to make a house truly a home.

Lots of people have a keen interest in the bill. Of course, not all want it to progress. Despite widespread support for rent controls across Scotland, and the recognition that our housing system is not delivering safe, warm and affordable homes for too many Scots, detractors will continue to argue that the bill will destroy investment and that it has not got right the balance between developers, landlords and tenants. Indeed, the Scottish Government has said that its rent control calculation strikes a balance between the interests of stakeholders in the private rented sector.

However, let us not mince our words: this is not balance—it is surrender. The housing system is already tilted in favour of landlords, many of whom have profited handsomely while tenants shoulder the burden of stagnant wages, rising inflation and skyrocketing living costs. The Government’s retreat reveals a profound failure to understand the nature of the crisis. Tenants are not asking for balance—they are demanding fairness. They are demanding the right to live in homes that they can afford without the constant threat of being priced out.

The original promise of the bill was to empower communities, protect tenants, and redefine housing as a human right. The Government’s rent control proposals undermine all three. They reduce councils to administrators of modest rent increases instead of champions of housing justice. They perpetuate a system in which landlords hold all the power. They abandon the idea that housing is more than a commodity. We believe that housing is a fundamental necessity for every person in Scotland.

We must also confront the broader context. Critics of rent controls often blame monetary policy and rising interest rates, and point to the challenges that landlords face in high-inflation economies. Let us be clear that those economic pressures are not the fault of tenants, yet tenants are the ones who are being asked to pay the price. Emergency legislation that was introduced to protect tenants during this crisis was a lifeline, not a luxury, and the bill must build on that, not erode it.

Despite that disappointment, I remain hopeful about what might be achieved through the bill, if we are willing to fight for it. The bill still holds the potential to be a transformative force in addressing the housing emergency. It can be a tool to give tenants real security, to empower councils to act boldly in the interests of their communities and to establish housing as a cornerstone of a fairer, greener Scotland. We must insist on rent controls that truly control rents, not just manage their ascent. We must insist on tenant protections that reflect the reality of tenants’ struggles, not the preferences of landlords. We must insist that the bill lives up to its promise to be a vehicle for the new deal for tenants.

Photo of Pam Duncan-Glancy Pam Duncan-Glancy Labour 4:51, 28 November 2024

I am pleased to close this crucial debate for Scottish Labour. I thank my colleagues across the chamber for their thoughtful contributions. I also thank the organisations that provided briefings ahead of the debate, including Crisis, the SFHA, Shelter Scotland and Aberlour.

Since 2023, the Scottish Government and 13 local authorities have declared a housing emergency. That emergency has real-life implications for people across the country and, for some, it is a matter of life and death. Homeless death statistics that were released this week highlight the real consequence of the SNP’s failure to get a grip on the housing emergency, as we have heard from members today. Across Scotland, tragically, there were 242 homeless deaths last year. For my constituents, the figure is even more staggering as it represents a rate of twice the Scottish average: 56 people died while homeless in Glasgow last year.

In 2023-24, 14,150 households were assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness in which the lead applicant was a woman. I was pleased to hear the minister and others, including Collette Stevenson and Emma Roddick, recognise the issues that are faced by women who are experiencing domestic violence.

Figures from the National Union of Students show that 12 per cent of students in housing in Scotland have experienced homelessness while studying. My colleague Rhoda Grant set out the impact of the housing crisis, including difficulties in the private rental market in rural areas. In addition, 30,000 children in Scotland are driven into poverty by high housing costs—an issue that others have spoken about today. That is the impact of the housing crisis in Scotland.

Housing costs are significant, especially in the private rented sector—as others, including Ariane Burgess, have highlighted—and that can be an expensive option. Rents in Glasgow have increased by 81 per cent since 2010.

Scottish Labour wants to ensure that the Housing (Scotland) Bill addresses those issues. However, we are concerned that, as drafted, the bill would need significant amendment to do that properly. Putting on local authorities the burden of collecting data in order to evidence the effects of rent controls without providing support and resources to do that could render rent controls unworkable. The Government also needs to consider carefully the position of housing associations, such as Yorkhill Housing Association, which I visited recently to see the great work that it does to provide affordable, accessible homes in Glasgow.

The Government must also make sure that there are no unintended consequences, such as for mid-market rent homes, which members including Willie Rennie have highlighted, that could hinder the work that it does.

Leaving much detail to regulation leaves a lot of unknowns, as Meghan Gallacher and others noted. One result of that is that students are not yet clear about what the Government will do to address their concerns on purpose-built student accommodation.

Fundamental to addressing the crisis that we are in is a revolution, as my colleague Mark Griffin highlighted, in the supply of much-needed homes across Scotland. The bill, as it stands, does not provide that. It treats the symptoms of the housing emergency instead of addressing the root cause.

For many people across the country, including everyone on a housing list, children in temporary accommodation and disabled people living in inaccessible properties, there is a real need to simply build more homes. Given that the bill will not build a single home, it will not consider calls to ensure that accessibility for disabled people is built into the housing system.

Photo of Emma Roddick Emma Roddick Scottish National Party

The member will not get an argument from me on the need to build homes, but does she recognise that doubling the rate of house building over the next five years alone would not be enough to undo the past year of rent increases?

Photo of Pam Duncan-Glancy Pam Duncan-Glancy Labour

The scale of the work ahead is, of course, huge, which is why I am disappointed at the pace at which the Government has moved on the matter. The bill does not address issues with the current system, including the impact of incompetent maintenance from landowners or of that by factors on home owners, which is an issue that my constituents in Glasgow have raised. The bill will not build new houses, so it will not meet calls to ensure that accessibility for disabled people is built into the housing system.

Scottish Labour is supportive of the principles behind the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which we will vote for today. However, we are clear that it needs significant improvements, and we will seek to make those amendments as the bill makes its passage through the Parliament.

Ultimately, we want everyone to live in a decent home that they can afford. The only way to ensure that is to drive up the supply of warm, safe and affordable houses across all tenures in Scotland.

Photo of Alexander Stewart Alexander Stewart Conservative 4:56, 28 November 2024

I am delighted to close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. As the Parliament has already heard, Scotland is truly facing a housing crisis, and the bill is badly needed. The legislation that the Government has introduced risks making the crisis in the sector even worse. For that reason, we will not support it at stage 1.

The problems with the bill should have been seen from a long way off. When the introduction of rent controls was first proposed in 2021, members on the Conservative benches were quick to warn about the problems to which it could lead. We highlighted the international example of Sweden, which has decade-long waiting lists for rent-controlled properties and a second-hand market of sub-let properties. The SNP created its own case study here, when rent control measures led to higher rent increases than in other parts of the United Kingdom.

However, regardless of those lessons and despite the end of the Bute house agreement, the SNP has ploughed on with its rent control policy. Unfortunately, the Government’s handling of the whole process has ensured that we are all in a worse situation. Once again, the Scottish Government is continuing its pattern of dealing with important policy decisions through secondary legislation. Last month, the Government finally released some detail about its proposals in a statement but, overall, that statement damaged confidence about housing in Scotland.

Today, members—even the convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee—talked about the lack of scrutiny through the process and the difficulties around and disappointment in the way in which the Scottish Government has handled it.

Meghan Gallacher spoke about the number of homeless individuals and the shame that we should feel. The housing emergency needs to be tackled. Rent controls will not improve the situation; they will make things worse. The bill will stifle investment and harm the industry and we should not introduce any legislation that does so. Even Mark Griffin spoke about the amendments that will be required at stage 2. The way in which housing is managed in Scotland needs to be dealt with.

Willie Rennie spoke about—

Photo of Liam McArthur Liam McArthur Liberal Democrat

Sorry, Mr Stewart. I ask those members who are coming into the chamber to refrain from having private conversations that are now getting above a tolerable noise level. Please continue, Mr Stewart. I will give you the time back.

Photo of Alexander Stewart Alexander Stewart Conservative

Thank you. Willie Rennie spoke about the increased demand and the failure to build. He mentioned that 72 per cent of local authorities said that the supply was shrinking and that Government policy was once again damaging the sector.

Jeremy Balfour spoke about homelessness and the whole crisis that has been created and mentioned that rent controls will continue to fail. The bill is so woefully short of detail and has made such difficulties that it will continue to cause problems. It might have been introduced with the right intentions, but it completely fails to deliver on the need to tackle Scotland’s housing emergency.

What we needed was a bold piece of legislation that would put the supply of new properties front and centre of the Government’s agenda. Instead, we have been left with framework legislation that aims to deliver damage to the sector.

As the bill proceeds through the next stages, I hope that the Scottish Government is finally able to learn from the mistakes of the past and listen to the stakeholders who are telling it that there are problems with the bill and to ditch this damaging plan, which will make Scotland’s housing crisis even worse. We should not be considering a bill that will make the crisis worse for communities the length and breadth of Scotland. When individuals and organisations are telling us that this is the wrong way to go, we should listen.

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party 5:00, 28 November 2024

The bill has been welcomed by many organisations in the housing sector, which all want it to progress. We have all had the briefings telling us that that is what they want to happen.

Everyone should have a secure and affordable home, but that is not the reality for some people, and that should be the driving force behind the bill. The bill is an opportunity to deliver change that will bring us closer to that aim. If agreed to, the measures will have tangible benefits for the people of Scotland for years to come.

As I stated in my opening remarks, we know that a good-quality, affordable and well-regulated housing system can help to tackle poverty. “Tackle poverty” are not words that I have heard much in the debate this afternoon, but we want to tackle poverty, including for families with children, as well as to promote equality and support wellbeing.

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party

I have only five minutes.

Eradicating child poverty remains the Government’s priority, and we can all agree that having a secure and affordable home can make a contribution to achieving that.

The package of rented sector reforms in the bill have the potential to make rents more affordable for private tenants and to make a positive difference for people who rely on the rented sector for a home. Rent control presents an opportunity for us to ensure that there is a regular consideration of rent levels by allowing us to act where that is needed, based on local circumstances.

Photo of Patrick Harvie Patrick Harvie Green

The minister has once again claimed that the package of rent controls will make rents more affordable. Will he acknowledge that tying rents to an above-inflation increase everywhere, even when the evidence justifies a rent-controlled area, means that rents will continue to become less affordable?

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party

The main priorities for me are that we have rents that are affordable for people in rented accommodation and that we are able to attract investment, which is incredibly important and which has been raised in the chamber this afternoon.

In the rented sector, expanding rights to request a pet or personalise a private rented property will help tenants to make a property feel like a home. When a tenant feels able to make a home, they are more likely to stay longer and to take better care of the rented property.

We have heard about the changes in respect of unlawful eviction. That will help tenants to take action to hold to account landlords who do not abide by legal requirements.

I want to touch on points that were raised by the committee members and others. On Ariane Burgess’s point about rent controls, I note that the forthcoming consultation is about the balance of rent controls and attracting investment. I look forward to meeting and engaging with the committee on that point.

The ask and act duty was raised by Collette Stevenson on behalf of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. Guidance on that will be developed as the bill itself is developed.

I want to touch on the point that Willie Rennie

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party

I only have five minutes.

Willie Rennie raised an incredibly important point about mid-market rent. The Government has stated its commitment to invest £100 million in mid-market rent. The consultation will look at that. Like Willie Rennie, I want to drive investment into the sector, into MMR and into the build-to-rent sector.

Meghan Gallacher said that the statement on rent controls was welcomed by the Scottish Property Federation, the Association for Rental Living and DJ Alexander. We set up the housing investment task force, which continues to discuss with us what the bill will look like.

I turn to homelessness prevention. We have an important opportunity to improve the lives of thousands of individuals and families across Scotland through preventing homelessness and the long-term harms that are associated with it as early as possible. It will require culture change and a range of different bodies to work differently, but the rewards could be significant and groundbreaking.

We will work closely with stakeholders across different bodies and sectors, as we have done over a number of years, and with people with lived experience of homelessness to ensure that the legislation, guidance and training on the new duties are fit for purpose. The homelessness prevention duties are an essential part of our vision to end homelessness in the longer term, but they are also essential to reducing pressures on the housing system and tackling child poverty now.

The Government is taking urgent action on the housing emergency as we speak.

Photo of Alison Johnstone Alison Johnstone Green

Minister, if I might ask you to stop for a second. I am aware of various conversations that are going on across the chamber. I ask all members who are in the chamber to take their seat and listen to the minister.

Photo of Paul McLennan Paul McLennan Scottish National Party

Thank you, Presiding Officer. This Government has already taken urgent action on the housing emergency. We are investing an additional £22 million in our affordable housing supply through charitable bonds. That follows our investment of £80 million in an acquisitions fund that targets the five authorities that are under most pressure.

I mentioned the £100 million that was announced in the programme for government, which will deliver 2,800 mid-market rent homes. We are also working with key partners, including COSLA and the housing to 2040 board, to ensure that we are focused on tackling the housing emergency.

We continue to tackle empty homes as a priority. We have invested £3.7 million in the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, which has helped to return almost 11,000 homes to active use since 2010. On top of that, we have next week’s budget.

The bill is about giving tenants a safe, secure place to live and ensuring that we have a well-managed private rented sector that works in the interests of tenants and landlords and that brings in investment. It is also about tackling poverty. I hope that members will support the bill and bring forward those possibilities.