Scotland needs homes. End housing insecurity.
Scotland has a shortage of homes. With social housing sold off to buy to let landlords, vast swathes of it destroyed over the past few decades and with the rest hidden behind unaccountable housing associations, our homes have become a precarious and uncertain environment.
What is more, rent has continued to skyrocket in the social and private sector whilst wages have stagnated or fallen in real terms. This has forced many tenants into further housing insecurity. An insecure, unsafe, unaccountable housing system destroys what should be safe, secure, stable homes.
We call on you to join the fight against buy to let landlordism in our communities; the fight for the restoration of vacant land once occupied by public housing; the tackling of the accountability gap in stock transfer landlords and the fight for rent controls.
United we can end housing insecurity.
Our manifesto.
This is the tenants’ union Living Rent’s manifesto for the Holyrood elections 2021. Scotland needs a major shift in its housing. This is our manifesto to set out how.
The pandemic has not brought new issues to the front but has rather acted as a stress test, revealing pre-existing fractures. From putting their lives at risk as essential workers to facing financial collapse, working-class people are set to absorb the impact of economic disaster for the second time in a generation. The Holyrood elections in 2021 are a vital opportunity to rebuild for Scotland a fair, just, affordable housing system for all tenants.
Who we are.
Living Rent is Scotland’s tenants’ union. We organise and represent our members in the private and social rented sector. We fight for safe, secure and affordable housing for everyone.
We are a democratic organisation run by and for our members. We know our current political system is failing tenants. But we believe in homes for people, not for profit, and we are building a union and a movement to make that a reality.
We are not affiliated with any political party and only answer to our members.
What we do
Living Rent is a mass-membership organisation of low-middle income renters. We are organised collectively from the bottom up to represent and empower our members in disputes with landlords, housing associations and letting agents. This puts political and economic power back where it belongs – in the hands of ordinary people. In short, we are a union.
In any town or city, we build the union from scratch, by people working, taking action, campaigning and winning together. By building tenant power and challenging landlords collectively, we not only win for our members but we also fight for a housing and a political system that puts people before profit.
Read Living Rent's 2020/21 manifesto here: Living_Rent_Tenants'_Manifesto_2020_21.pdf
Join Living Rent here!
