Housing emergency 'has never been more glaring and urgent'

"SCOTLAND'S housing crisis has never been more glaring and urgent. ​High private sector rents are forcing people into homelessness at greater levels than before. Over the last decade the private sector has doubled, and rents have risen by 79% in Edinburgh and 86% in Glasgow, pricing people out of their homes and communities.

"Scotland’s housing stock is in serious disrepair and everyday people are having to make hard choices whether to pay the rent or put food on the table. The poorest fifth of people spend over half their income on rent.

"Strong, effective rent controls are a crucial part of the solution to Scotland's housing emergency. Done well, they would bring down the price of rent, increase housing quality, and ensure people aren’t forced out of their homes by rising rents. Rent controls have been successful across the world, in Canada, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

"Scotland had rent controls until Thatcher abolished them 40 years ago, a period during which housing costs were much less of a pressure on people’s pockets. 

Ruth Gilbert, Living Rent national campaigns chair (Image: Newsquest)

"Landlord lobbyists are trying to argue that vulnerable tenants will struggle to secure housing due to rent controls leading to a shortage of homes, ultimately driving up rents. But the evidence from the private sector does not support their fearmongering. The most credible data from the Government and from industry sources shows that the number of PRS properties has remained stable and increased in the last two years. The private sector has doubled since 1999, with only a small dip in 2016 after new rules on stamp duty were introduced.

SPECIAL SERIES: 

Part One: SNP housing law 'open to potential legal challenge'

New Scottish housing rent controls put forward by industry

Comment: Scottish rent controls plans 'rejected by councils'

Part Two: Housing law rent controls exemplar was ‘unmitigated disaster’

Comment: Housing emergency 'has never been more glaring and urgent'

"Currently, the main barriers vulnerable people face when trying to rent are discrimination and unaffordable rents. Landlords’ apparent concern for vulnerable tenants is a last ditch attempt to stop legislation they know will curb their profits. And these thinly veiled threats to sue the government and leave the market only highlights the disparity in power between landlords and tenants.

"Of course landlords will threaten to leave the market when stronger legislation comes in. They know that their profits are at risk. But it makes no sense for a landlord to sell a valuable asset which they continue to profit from. And even if they sell, they are selling to other landlords or first-time buyers. Bricks and mortar do not vanish. Such empty threats highlight that we cannot rely on landlords to regulate themselves.

"Housing is a human right. The Government should introduce new, rigorous protections for tenants, including rent controls. These controls should be tied to the property, not the tenancy, and linked to quality to drive up standards in Scotland’s housing stock. And in areas of high rent pressure, we need local authorities given the power to cap rent increases at 0% in order to bring exorbitant rents down. Anything short of this will be a failure of the Scottish Government to satisfy its progressive promises and commitment to ending the housing emergency."