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A New Deal for Tenants: Rents Down, Rights Up!

  • Scotland’s tenants need homes we can afford, so that we’re not priced out of our communities.
  • We need security of tenure, not just a place we can stay for a while.
  • We need homes that are warm, so that heating them doesn’t cost the earth.
  • We need access to justice and better enforcement, so that we can defend ourselves when landlords treat us unfairly. 

The Scottish Government has promised to introduce rent controls and greater rights for tenants in this Parliament.
Between December 2021 and April 2022, the Scottish Government consulted on proposed changes to the law.

As Scotland's tenants union, we demanded:

  • AFFORDABLE HOMES: a point-based system of rent controls to bring down housing costs and improve housing quality and a greater supply of social housing

  • QUALITY HOMES: greater and clearer penalties for landlords who refuse to make repairs, as well as clearer incentives for improvements such as energy efficiency

  • SECURE HOMES: greater protections for tenants, including banning winter evictions, making all grounds discretionary and introducing meaningful penalties for breaches of the law

  • HOMES THAT ARE OURS: 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: control over our homes, which means making rent consultation results binding, and ensuring we don’t face repercussions for exercising our rights

Get in touch if you want to get involved locally and push for change. 

6,152 endorsements
5,000 endorsements

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3379

  • Ethan Gillies-Denning
    endorsed 2022-04-17 13:46:08 +0100
    Preventing landlords price gouging and taking advantage of tenants
  • Dash Peruvamba
    endorsed via 2022-04-17 11:15:18 +0100
    Affordable homes by greatly expanding social housing by all means necessary, including forced repossessment of empty homes and absentee landlords.
  • Bella Hansard
    endorsed 2022-04-16 20:41:35 +0100
  • Erika Täblob
    endorsed 2022-04-16 15:41:24 +0100
  • Paddy Duke
    endorsed 2022-04-16 13:56:25 +0100
  • Nicole Seal
    endorsed 2022-04-16 13:27:52 +0100
  • Christopher Harris
    endorsed 2022-04-16 11:40:41 +0100
    Affordable housing for residents
  • Alan Wong
    endorsed 2022-04-16 10:36:14 +0100
    affordable renting and housing costs
  • Adrian Currie
    endorsed 2022-04-16 09:23:37 +0100
  • Deborah Wickham
    endorsed 2022-04-15 23:38:53 +0100
    Affordable homes where we don’t feel scared to demand our right to repair.
  • Edward Jones
    endorsed 2022-04-15 23:17:07 +0100
  • Daisy Andrews
    endorsed 2022-04-15 23:15:43 +0100
  • Glen Glen
    endorsed 2022-04-15 22:57:42 +0100
  • Norma Forbes
    endorsed 2022-04-15 21:50:22 +0100
    Limit increases in line with incomes. More security for long term tennents
  • Alexander Mohan Morzeria-Davis
    endorsed 2022-04-15 21:49:05 +0100
  • Caroline Higgs
    endorsed 2022-04-15 21:22:53 +0100
  • Callum Shiels
    endorsed 2022-04-15 19:28:39 +0100
  • Margaret Stephen
    endorsed 2022-04-15 19:09:34 +0100
  • Haroon Tahir
    endorsed 2022-04-15 19:08:42 +0100
  • Rinna Vare
    endorsed 2022-04-15 18:44:55 +0100
  • Justine Gangneux
    endorsed 2022-04-15 18:37:34 +0100
    Affordable rents, decent housing with no damp and adequate isolation
  • Gregor Thomson
    endorsed 2022-04-15 18:04:42 +0100
  • Angus McNulty
    endorsed 2022-04-15 17:31:30 +0100
  • John Stewart
    endorsed 2022-04-15 17:17:06 +0100
    NLC keep putting rents up to fill their pockets while the rest of us barely get a yearly wage rise or any at all. Time for Scottish Govermment get a grip and sort this shambles out
  • Janet Poplawski
    endorsed 2022-04-15 16:40:36 +0100
    Housing availability/affordability; consequences for landlords putting profit over the basic need of housing
  • Sabina Ali
    endorsed 2022-04-15 16:36:46 +0100
    rent controls, less short lets, affordable housing
  • Georgia Whyte
    endorsed 2022-04-15 15:13:48 +0100
  • Hayden Douglas
    endorsed 2022-04-15 14:56:54 +0100
  • Mary Rooney
    endorsed 2022-04-15 14:41:32 +0100
  • Caitlin Feasey
    endorsed 2022-04-15 14:32:05 +0100
    Homes that are ours. Just because we rent does not mean we shouldn’t have the right to have a pet or dedorate our home in a way that reflects our likes and dislikes. Pets are also great for mental health so this is something that must be taken seriously.