By Aoife Deery

2021 has been a significant year for housing. As we have said before in this column, the pandemic has showed us how important safe and secure housing is for people, as staying home has been the main public health message for much of the past 20 months. This year has seen the continuation of protections against eviction which were introduced during the pandemic, including pre-action requirements, which have helped landlords and tenants communicate better, and all eviction grounds being discretionary means that every case has the opportunity to be heard and deliberated on, rather than evictions having to be granted by default in many instances. These showed us that there could be a different way of dealing with arrears. As we round off the year, more changes are due to come in the form of a new Rented Sector Strategy, which will lay out plans and proposals for improving accessibility, affordability and availability of housing in the rented sector. Specific measures being proposed include the right to decorate and own pets, as part of the Greens’ deal with the Scottish Government. These proposals bring to the fore some strongly held beliefs about what tenants should and should not be able to do to make their house a home and we look forward to open conversations on these matters and others.

While it’s good that the government are looking ahead and taking lessons from the pandemic to inform future housing policy, there is still the pressing issue of tenants who have accumulated and still have arrears due to the pandemic. It will be many months before people are properly back on their feet and the last thing they need is to be evicted while they build back up. While we welcome the COVID Tenant Grant Fund which was set up in September, we anticipate that this will be massively oversubscribed. Recent research from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence estimated the level of private sector arrears to be £126million, over 12 times the size of the tenant grant fund. Looking at budget announcements on Thursday we were therefore disappointed to see that funding for Discretionary Housing Payments, which could also be used to help in this way, has been reduced by nearly £3million for the coming year. For anyone reading this who is finding themselves in difficulties with their rent, we urge you to approach your local authority about the COVID Tenant Grant Fund or any other monies you might be eligible for. It’s also always worth contacting your local CAB as they can help check you’re not missing out on anything that might help you pay the rent.

Four years on from the introduction of the Private Residential Tenancy, it’s evident that some elements of renting have yet to be fixed, and the upcoming consultation on the Strategy will be a great opportunity to explore issues. We believe that the housing system in Scotland must be made fairer, and if done right and with full and proper public involvement and consultation, this Strategy will take several steps towards achieving this. The balance of power is starting to shift, and tenants’ rights are strengthening.

Aoife Deery is a Senior Social Justice Policy Officer at Citizens Advice Scotland