Students criticise landlord lobby over Scottish Housing Bill

Students criticise landlord lobby over Scottish Housing Bill

0:02 AM, 4th December 2024, About 14 hours ago

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Student campaigners have slammed “the landlord lobby” for putting “people over profit” in the Scottish Housing Bill.

The Scottish Housing Bill has passed the first stage but the National Union of Students Scotland claims MSPs “must close loopholes in the Bill which disadvantages students”.

The Bill will allow renters to request permission to keep a pet in their home and bring in long-term rent controls.

Echoed lines used by the landlord lobby which values profit over people

According to a survey by the student organisation, 34% of students in Scotland struggle to pay their rent and two fifths (42%) of those students have gone without heating as a result.

NUS Scotland is urging the Scottish government for rent controls and tenant protection regulations to be applied to purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) on an equal basis to the private rented sector.

The group also warns the Scottish government not to water down rent controls.

NUS Scotland President, Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan, said: “The housing bill is a strong first step to tackling Scotland’s housing emergency and we’ve passed the first hurdle to seeing it become law. But now the real work begins. In stages 2 and 3 MSPs must work to close loopholes in the bill which disadvantage students and apprentices and must oppose any weakening of tenant protections and rent controls.

“During the debate in Parliament, some parties signalled a desire to weaken the bill’s measures, and echoed lines used by the landlord lobby which values profit over people. Politicians should know that students are watching, and if they don’t support us in parliament then we won’t support them in the voting booth.”

Rent controls will make housing crisis worse

There is clear evidence that rent controls do more harm than good with rents rising by 14% in Scotland in a year.

A recent report by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) found that rent controls have consistently failed to achieve their intended objectives.

They increase prices, reduce the availability of properties and lower the quality of housing.

The Scottish government’s own economic agency has also warned that rent controls will only make the housing crisis worse.


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