A TENANTS’ union says more than 200 SNP members have joined its call for the First Minister to follow through on introducing rent controls.
Living Rent and the SNP members have signed an open letter to John Swinney and Housing Minister Paul McLennan. They urge the government to “stand firm against landlord lobbying” and introduce a strong national system of rent controls covering both existing and new tenancies.
It calls on them to “show the leadership Scotland needs” and “deliver the bold and transformative policies the housing crisis demands”.
Living Rent said polling last week from Future Economy Scotland re-affirmed that the majority of people in Scotland support rent controls. Support is particularly high among SNP voters (90%).
It says unaffordable rents are a key driver of poverty. The last decade saw rents increase by 62% across Scotland, rising by 88.5% in Edinburgh and 95.5% in Glasgow. Homelessness from the private sector has increased by 22% since 2022.
Housing costs are the largest financial outgoing in most households and Scotland’s lowest-paid workers spend up to 50% or more of their take home pay, on housing.
Living Rent says Scotland has experienced “extortionate” rent increases in the last 10 years. Data from the Scottish Government published in November revealed that between 2010-23, rents across Scotland increased by 51.6% on average.
In some local authorities, increases were even sharper – in Lothian the figure was 79.3%, and in Greater Glasgow it was 86.2%.
Over 2023, new rents across Scotland increased by 14.3% to an average of £841 per month. In Greater Glasgow, rents were up by 22.3% to an average £1050 per month and in Lothian they rose by 18.4% to an average £1192. Speaking ahead of this week’s Programme for Government launch, Living Rent’s national campaign’s officer Ruth Gilbert said: “Tenants urgently need robust rent controls.
“Decades of poor regulation and a reliance on the free market has seen landlords hike up rents to eye-watering prices. Meanwhile, our wages have stagnated and the cost of living overall has pushed people further into poverty.
“SNP members have spoken – they want rent controls. Now the party needs to listen to them. The SNP need to ask themselves: are they the party of the hundreds of thousands of tenants who have been pummelled by austerity, the cost of living crisis, and spiralling rents?
“Or are they the party of the tiny handful of landlords, milking our communities for everything they’re worth? The SNP committed to introduce permanent rent controls before the end of this Parliament, and if they backtrack now voters won’t forgive them.
“The Government has already released its proposals for innovative, bold, and effective rent controls. They now need to put their money where their mouths are and follow through to ensure that our housing meets the needs of the people who live in it.”
