Today, Living Rent launched an open letter signed by over 200 SNP members and supporters calling for John Swinney and Paul McLennan to reaffirm their commitment to rent controls. Read it below:
Dear John Swinney and Paul McLennan,
We, the undersigned SNP members, write to you with one clear message: Scotland needs strong rent controls.
Forty years of Thatcherite housing policy has failed Scotland miserably. And yet, with well-funded lobbying, deliberate mis- and disinformation, as well as outright lies, landlords are doing everything they can to ensure nothing changes - even during a national Housing Emergency.
This is an opportunity to show the people of Scotland whose side we are on: are we a party for the hundreds of thousands of tenants who have been pummelled by austerity, the cost of living crisis, and spiralling rents? Or are we a party for the tiny handful of landlords, milking our communities for everything they’re worth, no matter the suffering it causes?
You must stand firm. We need a strong, national system of rent controls that covers both existing and new tenancies to protect all of Scotland’s tenants and help end the housing emergency. We ask you to show the leadership Scotland needs and deliver the bold and transformative policies the housing crisis demands.
This is our opportunity to show the difference we can make. Let’s not miss it.
Signed:
Aditi Jehangir, Chair of Living Rent,
Eilidh Keay, Chair of Living Rent Edinburgh,
Marion Fellows, former MP for Motherwell and Wishaw
Sandra White, former MSP for Glasgow Kelvin
Chris Stephens, former MP for Glasgow South West
Cllr Simita Kumar
Cllr Christopher Birt
Cllr Euan Hyslop
Cllr Abdul Bostani
Cllr Adam Nols-McVey
Jacqui Jensen
Keith Gibb
Jane Essex
A Wilson
Isobel Knox
John Peebles
Linda Clark
Claudia Nicholson
Iona Martindale
Keith Barclay
R Bothwell
Simon Barrow
Michael Gregory
D Macdonald
B Powell
John Robertson
Jan Currie
Jenny Gunning
Jack Merston
Agnes Bothwell
Laura Dunbar
Gordon Ferrie
David Partick
Dick Bruce
Tim Rideout
Kate Doherty
Aaron Taylor
Ashli Hollister
Ross Bain
Duncan Mitchell
Sheona Bruce
Roman Hawaniec
Sheila Duff
Carol Douglas
Chris Hanlon
Simon Jones
Tabassum Niamat
Ire Dobson
Craig Beveridge
Jaqueline Harris
Jeniffer Ferguson
Ronald Wallace
Gav Reilly
G Clark
M Wallace
Christine Sal
Sandy Mackenzie
Moira Wotherspoon
Manon Gabillard
Cecilia Clegg
Grace Wallace
Dean Wight
Catherine Butterburns
Stephen Brown
David Mitchell
Ibrahim Haroun
Tamali Collner
James Collner
Paul McAllister
Jack O'Neill
Helen Lewis
W. Panton
S. Melnick
A. Melnick
I.R Parker
Jim Softvey
Lisa Glasham
Lesley McCrory
Susan Hastie
R. Phoenix-Hill
Carol Cobhan
Ronald Cobhan
Colin Langley
Janis Wilson
Peter Mackenzie
R. Thompson
Kathleen Byron
Lesley Haxton
Jonny Phyllis Mackay
Julie Govan
Brady Robertson
Airlie Robertson
Alex Garth-Domhnallach
Paul Sacuseurs
Audrey Thompson
Pamela Brown
David Lews
Sameeha Rehman
Joan Todd
Lindsay Levy
Callum Cox
Colm Melly
John Adams
Briony Leven
Amy McInnes
Colin Lawrie
Elaine Paterson
Alex Boyle
Fiona Boyle
Ellen Farsan
Sylvia McDonald
Norrie McDonala
Sinead Collins
Alistair Suttie
Diane Willinson
Karen Marjorie
James M Grant
Luke Irnroll
Bridget Maloney
A. Shaw
Melanie Hughes
Aileen Orr
H. Amusan
Chris Abell
Sandra Taylor
Jacqueline Cameron
Julie Deitbarn
Laura Mitchell
Y. Menzies
Ann Motherwell
Eilidh McIntosh
Bryce Goodall
Vicky Nicholson
Tom Ullathorne
M Robel
C Souell
Sandra Brinney
Murray Visentin
Bill Clark
Cathy Plunkett
S. Drunnham
Erin Lux
Robert McDonala
E. Limorlie
Morag Oden
Catherine Victor
Peter Ichie
Serena Hay
Alexis Geddes
J. Lee
G. Chambers
Wylie Horn
David Nummey
Christine Briddon
Paul Phin
Andrew Slobie
M. Lettern
Lynn Wardlaw
Ian Mackay
Jackie Mackay
Jane Jones
Ian Macquarrie
Allan James
Paul Slyfield
Karen Rudrum
Gemma Moffat
Ruth Norman
Sahaib Parvez
Andy White
Paul Togneri
Joe Wallace
Barry Steven
Kate Frame
Kirsty Shirarr
Iain MacEchern
Margaret McGavra
P McGarva
Neal Ingram
Paul Martin
Isabelle Gow
Donna McEwan
Margaret Parker
John G. Green
Barbara Carmichael
E. Lawrie
Stephen Davies
Liz Hodge
Harvey Young
Victoria Hanlon
Campbell Cameron
