Scotland’s tenants deserve homes we can afford, so that we’re not priced out of our communities. We deserve security of tenure, not just a place we can stay for a while. We deserve homes that are warm, so that heating them doesn’t cost the earth. And we deserve access to justice and better enforcement, so that we can defend ourselves when landlords treat us unfairly.
The Scottish Government has listened to renters across Scotland and promised to introduce rent controls and greater rights for tenants. It’s holding a consultation about these proposed changes now. It's crucial that tenants have their voices heard in order to have homes that are genuinely affordable, good quality and secure.
I endorse Living Rent's consultation response and its key demands for:
- AFFORDABLE HOMES: We need a point-based system of rent controls to bring down housing costs and improve housing quality
- SECURE HOMES: We need greater protections for tenants, including banning winter evictions, introducing pre-action requirements, making all grounds discretionary and introducing meaningful penalties for breaches of the law
- QUALITY HOMES: We need greater and clearer penalties for landlords who refuse to make repairs, as well as clearer incentives for improvements
- HOMES THAT ARE OURS: We need the right to make it ours by not facing undue restrictions on what we can do, such as having pets or redecorating
- STRONGER VOICES FOR TENANTS: We need to have a say, which means making rent consultation results binding, and ensuring we don’t face repercussions for exercising our rights
