Housing (Scotland) Bill must be amended to protect tenants and prevent homelessness in Scotland

This week the Housing (Scotland) Bill received approval at Stage 1 in the Scottish Parliament, however, Govan Law Centre believes the bill contains some regressive and unnecessary provisions, but most of all is a missed opportunity to provide meaningful protection for tenants, especially in the private rented sector, and prevent needless homelessness in Scotland.

We believe the bill can be amended to deliver real protection and positive change for Scottish citizens, and we will be working with MSPs across all political parties to try and achieve this. In addition, we believe more research and work is required to resolve some particularly acute housing problems in Scotland, which we have identified. Below is a summary of our calls, which are more fully set out in our Parliamentary Briefing on the Housing (Scotland) Bill available here as a PDF. If you support any of these calls, please write to your local MSP(s) and ask them to support them please.

1  Age/Allocation
There is no independent evidence that removing the ban on taking age into consideration in allocating social housing would serve any useful purpose. Moreover, the Scottish Government did not consult on this proposal, and it appears to have by-passed the normal democratic route for open scrutiny in the development of public policy in Scotland. GLC hope to work with MSPs to bring forward an amendment to protect young persons from less favourable treatment in the allocation of housing by reason of their age.

2  Tenancy Support/Prevention of Homelessness
When a family or person becomes homeless there are support services put in place in order to help them through their homelessness journey. At GLC we do provide excellent interventions in relation to stopping evictions across Glasgow however we feel that there is more which can be done to help stave off homelessness. Govan Law Centre believes there is considerable scope for requiring local authorities and registered social landlords to support and facilitate access to independent sources of advice and support for their tenants not only prior to court action but also during court proceedings. We believe such duties should be backed up by primary legislation.

3  Private Landlord Registration (PLR)

The PLR scheme is a registration facility for private landlords. Currently it would appear that their main focus appears to be about registration with almost no enforcement powers at their disposal. Most PRS landlords that come to GLC attention are in fact registered but this does not modify their behaviour in acting poorly as a landlord with many cases showing they at times act illegally.  We believe there is scope for a national statutory body to be given additional powers and resources to regulate and better enforce and co-ordinate the PRS. It would be possible to give such a role to an existing national statutory body in Scotland in order to minimise cost implications.  However, we believe our suggestion would ultimately lead to major cost savings on the public purse by preventing unlawful activity and homelessness in the PRS.

4  Private Rented Sector

We also believe that private rents are excessively high for tenants, particularly if they are on low or modest incomes. The rights of private sector tenants need to be strengthened. The Scottish Government should carry out a review of the PRS in Scotland with a focus on unaffordable housing, and tenancy arrangements which create instability for those who are living with Short Assured Tenancies.

5  Recording those who disappear from the system

The most recent report on homelessness carried out by the Scottish government show that between 9%-10% of all applications "lost contact before assessment, withdrew or were ineligible". GLC would like to see these figures recorded in a more accurate way so that a true picture of those who lose contact is recorded.  GLC calls on the Scottish Government to carry out a review on this matter urgently so that local authorites are not failing in their statutory obligations, and vulnerable people do not lose out in relation to their statutory rights.

6  Private Hostels

Many of our most vulnerable and chaotic citizens are stuck living in very poor conditions in private hostels. Such establishments are well known to those who live in Glasgow, particularly those who work in homelessness and it is a Victorian response to a homelessness problem in 2014. GLC calls on the Scottish Government to use the current Housing Bill to introduce a scheme of registration and regulation for these types of private hostels. At present these hostels do not come under the Care Commission’s remit. We think they should. This would drive up standards in the sector, and ensure that those who were not fit to run such establishments were unable to do so. 

Housing (Scotland) Bill must be amended to protect tenants and prevent homelessness in Scotland