Tag: Living rent

Tenant Protection Bill passed

Emergency legislation approved by MSPs

Tenants will have increased protection from rent increases and evictions during the cost of living crisis under temporary legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Bill gives Ministers temporary power to cap rents for private and social tenants, as well as for student accommodation. The Bill also introduces a moratorium on evictions.

This cap, which applies to in-tenancy rent increases, has initially been set at 0% from 6 September 2022 until at least 31 March 2023. Ministers have the power to vary the rent cap while it is in force. The measures can be extended over two further six-month periods.

Enforcement of eviction actions resulting from the cost crisis are prevented over the same period except in a number of specified circumstances, and damages for unlawful evictions have been increased to a maximum of 36 months’ worth of rent.

The temporary legislation balances the protections that are needed for tenants with some safeguards for those landlords who may also be impacted by the cost crisis.

Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie said: “I am pleased that Parliament has passed this Bill to support tenants through the current cost of living crisis. People who rent their home are more likely to live in poverty or be on low incomes than other people, and many will be anxious about keeping up payments on their homes as their everyday expenses rise.

“With this Bill now set to become law, tenants in the social or private rented sector, or in student accommodation, will have stability in their homes and housing costs.

“I’m hugely grateful to MSPs for scrutinising and agreeing this legislation this week, ensuring these protections can be brought in with the urgency that this crisis demands.”

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland has broadly welcomed the publication of emergency legislation designed to protect tenants but warns that loopholes allowing social tenants with relatively modest rent arrears to be evicted miss the mark.

The charity has identified three key flaws in the legislation that could lead to more tenants becoming homeless before March 2023.

Two of the loopholes could see private tenants who have never missed a payment being made homeless if their landlord or landlords mortgage lender needs to sell the property.

The third issue relates to an exemption to the eviction moratorium for social tenants with arrears of more than £2,250. Post-covid this is around one third of the level seen in court actions already underway and well below the threshold where most social landlords give up on securing tenancy sustainment plans.

Shelter Scotland said it would be urging MSPs to amend these provisions in the Bill to ensure the promise of protection from rent rises and eviction is delivered for those most at risk of becoming homeless.

Shelter Scotland also highlighted that this Bill will not address the needs of those people already homeless in Scotland, especially the 8,538 children trapped in temporary accommodation.

Shelter Scotland Assistant Director, Gordon MacRae, said: “At Shelter Scotland we want this emergency legislation to work for those most at risk of losing their home.

“We know that the cost of an eviction in the social sector can be around £24,000. So, it makes little sense to set the exemption at a level of rent arrears well below that at which most social landlords would take a tenant to court.

“Deleting this exemption or raising the threshold would recognise the hard work of tenancy sustainment officers, advice bodies and tenants who work to tackle arrears and avoid costly evictions into homelessness.

“Private tenants must not face homelessness when they have paid their rent, but their landlord has fallen on hard times. During this emergency period sales of properties by landlords or lenders should only be permitted with the tenant remaining in their home.

“Where possible social landlords and Scottish Ministers could offer to buy the property where open market sale is not possible with a tenant in place as part of the Scottish Government’s affordable housing programme.

“We believe amending the bill to protect more families from the risk of homelessness is the right priority during this exceptional time.”

Mr MacRae added: “However, when the ink is dry on this Bill, Scotland’s housing emergency will remain just as grim as it was before. This bill does nothing for the record number of children stuck in temporary accommodation, denied their right to somewhere permanent and safe to call home.

“Focus must now turn to the longer-term spending choices of the Scottish Government. To really tackle the housing emergency Nicola Sturgeon needs to deliver Shelter Scotland’s action plan by buying or building 38,500 social homes by 2026, fully funding local homelessness services and guaranteeing anyone who becomes homeless their right to a home.”

Living Rent: Gorgie Deserves Better protest today

We need more social and affordable housing, not more purpose-built student accommodation. Here’s what you can do to reject the planned development:

1. Come to the new Tynecastle High School at 1pm this Sunday 30th May. Bring signs and masks and follow the COVID guidelines to stay safe: 

https://fb.me/e/3nm2LPH55

2. Follow the instructions on our website to send a letter to S1 Developments and tell them what you think of the development directly. Make yourself heard! 

livingrent.org/objection

3. Join Living Rent to help organise and create change in your area: 

livingrent.org/join

Gorgie needs affordable housing! We deserve better!

Edinburgh unveils plan for ending poverty by 2030

Edinburgh skyline

The city council has unveiled a ten-year delivery plan outlining the actions it will take to help eradicate poverty in the Capital by 2030.

Published just under two months since Edinburgh became the first UK local authority to set a target date for ending poverty, the End Poverty in Edinburgh Delivery Plan 2020-2030 will be considered by the Council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee on 1 December. 

It sets out key actions to be taken by the Council over the next decade in response to the final report from the Edinburgh Poverty Commission, which was published in September this year. 

Preventing poverty through people-focused and “poverty-proofed” Council services, helping households maximise their incomes, establishing Edinburgh as a Living Wage City and pressing the UK and Scottish Governments for changes to housing investment and social security policy are among the priority actions outlined in the delivery plan.  

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Tackling poverty and inequality in our City drives the choices we are making as a Council. We have to act decisively if we’re to eradicate poverty in the Capital by 2030. The first iteration of the delivery plan, just weeks after we received the final recommendations from the Edinburgh Poverty Commission, is the next major step towards that aim. 

“The ongoing impact of the Covid19 pandemic has hit those on lowest incomes hardest, this should challenge all of us to join the fight to end poverty in Edinburgh. We’ll be ensuring this is central to the choices we make when setting our budget and refreshing the Council’s Business Plan in early 2021.

“This isn’t something the Council can achieve in isolation, however, and this plan is only the first step towards meeting the call to action the Commission has set for us all. The next year will be critical in making sure we pull together and start the long-term work we need to do to end poverty in Edinburgh.

Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “It’s estimated there’s as much as £80 million in unclaimed benefits in the city. Making sure people are able to access all the financial support they are entitled to is one vital step we can take towards ending poverty in Edinburgh.

“The Edinburgh Poverty Commission report showed us that there are already a number of excellent support services working hard in this city to help Edinburgh residents do just that, but there is much more we need to do. Eradicating poverty in Edinburgh will take a massive collective effort – a ‘whole city approach’ – and this new delivery plan will see us working with our partners across the city to extend these supports and make sure high quality services to prevent or help people out of poverty are embedded in every community in Edinburgh.

“We’ll also continue to press the Scottish and UK Governments hard on making essential changes to housing investment and to social security policy and implementation to build a stronger support system for Scotland that, to quote the Edinburgh Poverty Commission report, ‘is based on a fundamental objective of providing income security sufficient for people in Edinburgh to live free of poverty‘”.

The End Poverty in Edinburgh Delivery Plan 2020-2030 highlights 13 priority actions needed to accelerate progress towards the goal of ending poverty in Edinburgh by 2030, and 44 actions identified for delivery and implementation through existing or forthcoming mainstream Council plans and strategies.

The Plan’s actions span seven ‘action areas’, as outlined in the final report from the Edinburgh Poverty Commission: 

  • The right support in the places we live and work
  • Fair work that provides dignity and security
  • A decent home we can afford to live in
  • Income security that offers a real lifeline
  • Opportunities that drive justice and boost prospects
  • Connections in a city that belongs to us
  • Equality in our health and wellbeing

If approved by councillors on the Policy and Sustainability Committee on 1 December, the Delivery Plan will then be implemented, with a detailed progress monitoring framework brought back to Committee within two cycles. 

In October, the Committee agreed to endorse a Team Edinburgh approach with other partners and organisations to become the first UK local authority to commit to ending poverty by a specific date.

On the day the Capital Coalition made their announcement on poverty targets a protest was taking place in Muirhouse, one of the capital’s poorest areas.

Living Rent campaigners staged an ‘Enough is Enough’ event to highlight the intolerable conditions council tenants are living in.