Of course, social landlords are required to use the moneys that they receive through rents to ensure that the investment in their properties keeps them to a good standard. As I said in my initial answer, the latest condition survey shows that, on the whole, social homes in Scotland are meeting a good standard, but there is always room for improvement. That is where the regulator is so important, in ensuring that the sector is striving to make such improvements where it needs to do so. The Scottish Government is continuing to invest in social housing more generally so that new homes are available. It is also important that investment can be made in bringing homes up to standard.

The latest Scottish house condition survey, which was for 2019, showed that 99 per cent of social homes were free from damp and 86 per cent were free from any sign of mould.

The Scottish Housing Regulator is responsible for monitoring social landlords’ progress towards the Scottish housing quality standard, which they are required to meet. The regulator can use its legal powers to intervene where there are problems so that landlords make any improvements that they need to make. Scotland’s social rented homes have improved over a number of years to meet the standard.

We will always keep funding under review. We are in the middle of our budget process, as Miles Briggs will be aware. If he wants to bring forward some proposals around funding, of course, we will consider those.

In addition to the resourcing that local government gets through its funding, we provide funding through the £100 million ending homelessness together fund. Some of that is focused on programmes such as housing first, which has had a lot of success in ensuring that people are supported not just with a tenancy but with the wraparound support that they require.

We will keep these things under review. I do not think that anyone can question the commitment that we have made through some of our world-leading homelessness legislation, and we have backed that up with real investment as well.

First, the rent freeze is designed to help tenants afford their rent, and it is disappointing that the Conservatives did not recognise the fact that, in a cost of living crisis that is partly caused by their United Kingdom Government, tenants will struggle to pay their rents. I would have thought that, in a cost of living crisis, the Conservatives might have supported such a measure.

The member will be aware that the rent freeze is in place until the end of March, and we have set a number of criteria around the issue of whether that will be extended. Of course, we are in dialogue with the social rented sector around an agreed outcome with it, which will be announced soon.

On homeless deaths, I have set out the complex nature of the issue, and its relationship with multiple forms of disadvantage relating to things such as drug-related death. We need to understand the complexity of the issue and to link it to a rent freeze is to take a simplistic approach to it.

We will continue to tackle homelessness and invest in reducing drug-related deaths through the investment of £250 million over this parliamentary session. We will do that because we are concerned about the human stories and tragedies behind those statistics.

Local connection requirements have long been recognised as a barrier to people realising their rights, which is why we have removed them. Most people who are homeless want to live in a community where they are already settled, but this change gives people choice about where they live, and the forthcoming housing bill will include rental sector reforms, further strengthening existing rights for tenants, and it introduces new homelessness prevention duties.

The death of Awaab Ishak is absolutely a tragedy. Nobody should lose their life due to poor housing conditions. I am also very concerned to hear about Ariane Burgess’s constituent. I would be happy to look further into the detail of that case if she would like to provide me with the details.

At present, there are defined minimum standards, and, although we do not specify the measures that landlords should take, insulation would normally be needed to meet the required level of energy efficiency. Although housing conditions in Scotland have been gradually improving, we recognise that there is more work to do, which is why we have committed to developing a new housing standard.

As I said, if Ariane Burgess wants to write to me with the detail of her constituent’s case, I will look into the details.

Scottish Government officials maintain regular contact with Homeless Project Scotland and Glasgow City Council. We have encouraged the charity to continue to engage with the council and to explore accommodation options. The council is best placed to support the charity with identifying suitable premises. I understand that it offered properties to Homeless Project Scotland and they were declined, so the council continues to explore potential sites. However, I am aware that, to date, there is a limited number of available properties that meet the charity’s specific requirements. I would encourage both to keep discussing.

Will the member take an intervention?

Ben Macpherson said that around 80 per cent of beneficiaries of help to buy would have been able to purchase a property without Government support. Given that, is Miles Briggs saying that we should take money out of the affordable housing supply programme, which helps people who could not afford to buy their own home or rent a home, and put it into help to buy? We need clarity from Miles Briggs on that.

Let me first welcome this debate, and ideas from across the chamber. Alex Rowley was quite right to call for us to work together where we can, and I will certainly attempt to do that, whether on this issue or others.

I will start with the record on affordable housing delivery. The Scottish Government has, according to all the available facts, led the way across the UK, with almost 113,000 affordable homes having been delivered since 2007. That is important, because all the poverty bodies that analyse these things say that the key reason why child poverty levels are lower in Scotland is the delivery of affordable housing. More than 79,000 homes have been delivered for social rent, including more than 19,000 council homes. A £3.6 billion package of investment has been made available this parliamentary session for the delivery of affordable homes, so that we can continue the important work that we started in 2007. We have also helped 19,000 households into home ownership since 2007.