Chamber and committees

In summary, for many years, Scotland has led the way on housing issues, including through the abolition of the right to buy, the provision of security of tenure for tenants and the provision of new social housing. Through the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, it continues to show such leadership. I am proud of that work—

I will, if I can have some extra time.

I am afraid that I need to move on.

We recognise the on-going impacts of the cost crisis, which may also be impacting on some private landlords. That is why the regulations propose that the rent cap be varied to allow for within-tenancy rent increases of up to 3 per cent.

As the whole Parliament is well aware, we introduced the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 to do three things: to protect tenants through stabilising their housing costs by freezing rents; to reduce the impact of eviction and homelessness through introduction of a moratorium on enforcement of evictions; and to avoid evictions from the rented sector by landlords wanting to raise rents between tenancies during the temporary measures, and reduce unlawful evictions.

Since then, the 2022 act has provided important additional protection for tenants across the rented sector, as we continue to live through challenging and uncertain economic times. Our updated data and economic analysis—which we published at the start of this year—shows that the unprecedented economic position has not yet fundamentally changed, and that many households in the private rented sector, in particular, continue to struggle.

It is for that reason that the regulations that are before the Parliament today seek to extend the rent cap measures for the private rented sector, and the eviction moratorium provisions, across all rented sectors that are covered by the 2022 act, and to extend other important provisions in the act for a further six-month period to 30 September.

In that case, I need to move on quickly.

That approach gives a measure of parity in monetary terms, in line with the voluntary rent-setting agreement that is in place with social sector landlords, while continuing to protect tenants from unaffordable rent increases.

There is also a safeguard in place for landlords who could alternatively opt to apply to rent service Scotland for a rent increase of up to 6 per cent, if they have had an increase in their defined prescribed property costs within a specified period.

I draw to Mr Mountain’s attention that it is important to recognise that, as well as being time limited and kept under review, the emergency legislation does not affect initial rent setting; it affects only in-tenancy rent increases.

As Mark Griffin knows, the necessity and proportionality of the emergency measures needs to be continually reassessed in the light of events. That is why the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill, which was supported by the Labour Party, was structured as it was. However, we have committed to introducing the new housing bill as soon as possible after the summer recess this year.

Long-term rent control measures will be included in the forthcoming housing bill, which is expected to be introduced as soon as possible after the 2023 summer recess. That will enable the Scottish Government to meet our commitment to deliver rent control by 2025.

Yes, I can. The member is correct that we cannot comment on current legal proceedings. However, the Scottish Government has led on housing over the long term, whether that is through the abolition of the right-to-buy investment in social housing or, most recently, the emergency rent freeze in the face of the cost of living crisis, as well as our long-term commitment to a national system of rent controls. I know that many Labour colleagues share great enthusiasm for seeing us continue with that work.

In our view, the provisions will clearly, almost by definition, have prevented some rented sector households from falling into homelessness by, as I said, giving them extra time to find alternative accommodation or seek housing advice and support from specialist agencies.

For private rented sector tenants, the measures continue to provide protection by making it easier and more meaningful, as I said, to challenge unlawful eviction. Unlawful eviction is a type of experience that people can go through that is more likely to lead to homelessness. In fact, I count myself among their number. I narrowly avoided homelessness when I was evicted from a flat by a dodgy landlord long before some of the current protections were in place, so I take very seriously the impact on people’s lives when they encounter those behaviours or practices.

The longer-term work on homelessness prevention duties is, I think, long awaited by the sector. We have engaged extensively with stakeholders to make sure that the measures that we bring forward will help to strengthen the protection against homelessness and to reduce it. I am not sure whether Adam Krawczyk has any current data that he wants to throw into the conversation on current patterns.

The impact has been a subject of concern from the social rented sector, but we have been pleased with our ability to reach agreement with the sector. The average approach—the approach of not setting a cap and not even seeking a voluntary, uniform cap for the social rented sector, but of offering an average instead—allows for some flexibility.

Some social landlords will have an urgent need to invest in quality and maintenance as well as other aspects of their investment programme. Some will have managed more successfully than others to keep rents low and under control during the pandemic. They will not all have followed exactly the same path, because they are independent bodies. Given the different circumstances that different social landlords are in, it was appropriate that we allow some degree of flexibility.

Social landlords exist for a social purpose and they are not there to extract the maximum rent that they can extract from the properties that they have on offer; they take that social purpose very seriously. None of them would seek to impose unaffordable rent increases or ones that could reasonably be avoided. In fact, we are seeing early indications that the rents that are being set are significantly below average. I have seen figures from some local authorities that have set their rent increases for the coming year at 2, 3 or 4 per cent—significantly below the average that we have been seeking. We anticipate that that will continue to be the case, and the Scottish Housing Regulator will continue to give us information on that.