Today, we delivered an open letter calling for Dundee City Council to commit to implementing rent controls when the Housing Bill comes into law.
Read our letter in full below:
Dear Councillors,
We, the undersigned, are writing to urge you to prioritise the needs of renters in your constituencies and commit to introducing rent controls after the Housing Bill has passed through Parliament.
Dundee has the fastest increasing rents in Scotland. Over the past decade, housing costs in Dundee have increased much faster than wages, making rent unaffordable for many. Rent for a one bed flat in Dundee rose 10% in the last year alone, after rising 16.9% the previous year. Since 2010 rent has increased by 75.2%, over 25% above inflation.
Unaffordable rents are a major driver of poverty, especially as rents are increasing much faster than wages. With the government abolishing the last of the emergency protections for tenants, this is only going to get worse as tenants are hit by a wave of unaffordable rent increases.
Housing costs are the largest financial outgoing in most households and 12.5% of Dundee renters are spending over half of their pay on rent. Nearly a third of children in Dundee live in poverty. Worryingly, housing costs disproportionately impact those from minority ethnic groups, women and LGBTQ+ people, making high rents a driving factor of inequality in our city.
The price of rent has also had a massive effect on homelessness in Dundee. Between 2023 and 2024, there were 1,106 applications assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness, with 456 households, including 262 children, in temporary accommodation. One of the common causes of homelessness is the inability to meet rent. We know that rising homelessness puts local authorities under a huge amount of pressure: rent controls would help ease this pressure and allow more people to stay in their homes.
By committing to rent controls, this council will show what a progressive response to the housing crisis looks like and ensure that tenants are able to remain in the neighbourhoods and communities they call home. Without a commitment to rent controls, we fear that landlords will continue to put up rents, and Dundee will soon become as expensive as Edinburgh and Glasgow have been allowed to become.
Edinburgh City Council has already backed rent controls - you have a responsibility to your constituents to do the same.
We, the community - tenants, workers, community groups and leaders - believe the people of Dundee should be able to afford homes. We therefore ask that you listen to the voice of Dundee residents and pass a motion in support of rent controls.
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland
Mike Arnott, Secretary, Dundee Trade Union Council
Bob MacGregor, Regional Officer, Unite the Union
Rory Steel, GMB Scotland
Jim McFarlane, Dundee City UNISON
Tánaiste Custance, President Elect, Dundee University Students’ Association
David Simpson, Unite retired members branch
Colin Clement, Stobswell Forum
Dr Cian McMahon, Lecturer in Economics & Management
Gail Stirling, West End Community Council
Iain Daniels, Energy and Benefits Advisor, Citizens Advice Bureau
Kate Maher, Elaine Maher, and Sam Cook, ScrapAntics
Laura Stevenson, Cake or Dice Community Cafe
Sheena Wellington, City Centre and Harbour Community Council
Thomas Coutts, Tesco and Dundee United Community Trust
Yvette Hoskins, Dundee RAAC Campaign Group
Dundee International Women’s Centre
Dundee Pensioners’ Forum
Fans Supporting Foodbanks Dundee
Speak Oot
Living Rent Dundee
