LETTINGWEB for PRS 4 Scotland’s response (Letters, October 26) to the Govan Law Centre’s report on the private sector is simply inadequate. I chair Unison’s housing issues group, made up mostly of housing professionals. And Mike Daily’s evidence reflects what our housing members tell us: that a two-tier housing system operates in the private rented sector in Scotland.
Private landlords’ representatives should try to understand what tenants are saying rather than dismiss their evidence altogether. Govan Law Centre’s research backs up what our members see day to day. And it is Unison members who spend a lot of time dealing with problems which bad private landlords create day to day.
Of course there are many good responsible private landlords, but the problem is there are also many mediocre ones and plenty of bad ones. And it is just your bad or good luck what you get. And if they are a bad landlord there is not a lot you can do about it.
We put nowhere near the same social responsibility on private landlords that we quite rightly put on social landlords, even though private landlords also get huge state subsidies through housing benefit. In our view we need much stronger regulation of the private rented sector to give tenants more security of tenure, protect them against eviction and ensure they get deposits returned to them. Surely rather than deny the evidence private landlords should engage in a proper debate about this?
Scott Donohoe,
Chair of Unison housing issues group,
Unison Glasgow City Branch,
84 Bell Street, Glasgow.
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