Campaigners call for greater action on sky-high rents
A “NATIONAL SYSTEM OF RENT CONTROLS” will be debated at the SNP conference in Glasgow today [Saturday 12 March].
Campaigners from inside and outside the party are hopeful that delegates will back an expansion of current party policy, which only supports rent controls in “pressure areas”.
The Living Rent Campaign successfully won the case for rent controls in the current Private Housing (Tenancies) Bill that has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament. However, the group state that the move for limited rent controls is only the beginning of a needed transformation in the precarious private tenant sector.
Gordon Maloney, a campaigner with Living Rent, told CommonSpace: “Rents, for far too many people, are simply unaffordable. The steps the Scottish Government has already taken to improve security for tenants are very welcome, but we desperately need to finish the job by introducing strong, watertight rent controls.”
The amendment in full, as introduced by SNP youth campaigners, reads: “Significant challenges remain for many private tenants in terms of higher housing costs, poorer housing quality, and lower energy efficiency; supports the introduction of a national system of rent controls, including for new tenants.”
Delegates are expected to vote on the rent controls amendment just after midday today.
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Picture courtesy of Living Rent/CraigMaclean