Chamber and committees

In my first answer to Mark Griffin, I set out the requirements that already exist for the social rented sector. Landlords are required to meet the Scottish housing quality standard as part of the Scottish social housing charter. Progress against that standard is monitored by the Scottish Housing Regulator. Guidance on meeting the standards, including detailed advice on dealing with damp, is already provided to social landlords and is regularly updated. We are also working on the repairing standard that is due to come into force for the private rented sector next year.

I reinforce the message that significant work is under way in the area and that we will continue to ensure that any further actions that are required are taken in the future.

Although it is an administrative rather than a statistical source, the most recent sector-wide data is from the Scottish landlord registration system, which shows that, in December 2022, there were 340,149 private rented properties registered in Scotland. That is slightly more than the 339,632 properties that were registered in August 2022.

The Scottish Government monitors landlord registration data monthly. Landlord registration and related data was analysed in our first report to the Scottish Parliament on the operation of the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, which was published on 12 January.

I refer Mr Simpson to the answer that I have just given to Liz Smith. The private rented sector is dynamic: it is made up of tens of thousands of small-scale landlords and there is constant coming and going within the sector. Those landlords who leave the sector may, in turn, sell to other landlords, and of course new landlords enter the sector.

It is significant that the size of the private rented sector has more than doubled over the long term since devolution, even during a period of generally tightening regulation. As is acknowledged in the report from the cross-party group on housing, which Mr Simpson is involved in, regulated markets can in fact be attractive to institutional investors.

I remind Mr Simpson of what I have said repeatedly on the matter. I hope that he is not in denial of the reality, which is that the number of registered properties in the private rented sector has not decreased. It increased slightly over the first three months, between August and December. We will keep that under review.

The work that Graham Simpson referred to as “data” is surveys of landlords’ possible intentions in the future. It is not data about properties actually being deregistered and no longer being available in the private rented sector.

I come back to the wider point that, if we look not only at the past 20 years or so of the private rented sector’s more than doubling in a period of tighter regulation but at the experience of a number of other European countries where the rental market is more regulated, bigger and more viable than ours, it is perfectly clear that an approach that seeks to achieve everyone’s human right to adequate housing is entirely compatible with a viable rental market.

I certainly share Mark Griffin’s sentiment about the case of Awaab Ishak and the reaction that it has provoked throughout the United Kingdom, including in Scotland.

It is worth reinforcing the fact that Scottish housing has been improving. In 2019, the Scottish house condition survey showed that 91 per cent of homes in Scotland were completely free from any sign of damp or condensation, which is an improvement on 86 per cent in 2012.

There is still much more to do, which is why we will consult on a new cross-tenure housing standard that will move beyond traditional models of fitness for human habitation to a new model that meets people’s expectations of housing as a human right and delivers homes that underpin health and wellbeing. Mark Griffin is right to say that there is more that we need to do: we will keep the issue under active consideration.

The Scottish Housing Regulator wrote to all social landlords on 1 December 2022 on the importance of having appropriate systems to identify cases of mould and damp. The regulator works with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers to identify and promote good practice.

For private landlords, the tolerable standard, which includes standards on dampness, was incorporated into the repairing standard in 2019. That means that issues can be raised with the First-Tier Tribunal for Scotland, which has powers to require landlords to carry out repairs to meet the standards.

I am very pleased that Liz Smith acknowledges that the actions that we are taking and have taken are helping with the cost of living crisis and are necessary for people in that context.

I am aware of surveys that have been carried out by landlord bodies that look at the possible intentions of landlords in the future. I caution that it is difficult to interpret those because they relate to what landlords may or may not choose to do in the future. That does not translate directly into the number of properties that might be affected, nor does it take into account new landlords entering the sector.

As I said in my first answer, there has been no fall in the number of properties on the landlord registration system. However, I acknowledge that it would take some time from any decision to sell before a sale was completed and the property deregistered, so we will continue to monitor trends in the register and other data.

Over the longer term, it is really important to acknowledge that, since devolution, the Scottish household survey has shown a very significant growth in private rented sector tenancies through a period of increased regulation.

I am grateful for that inadvertent promotion to cabinet secretary. Home Energy Scotland is our flagship domestic energy efficiency service. It provides free and impartial advice on energy efficiency, renewable heating and fuel poverty, and it provides support for people in Scotland to go greener at home while reducing their bills.

Home Energy Scotland is the main referral point for our funding schemes, including warmer homes Scotland, which is our national fuel poverty scheme, and the new Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme. We are also investing £64 million in 2023-24 as part of our locally delivered area-based schemes, which is enabling more fuel-poor households to benefit from a whole-house retrofit. As I have in the past, I encourage all members to ensure that their constituents are aware of those forms of support and advice.

Several of the areas of activity that I have already mentioned, particularly the advice and support that is available for householders from Home Energy Scotland, go some way towards addressing Beatrice Wishart’s question. I also mentioned the work on developing a cross-tenure housing standard that will move beyond the concept of fitness for human habitation and towards standards to deliver homes that will underpin health and wellbeing. All that work will continue to address the issues that the member raises.

I am not sure that I can quite express my relief at being told by Mark Griffin that he has not lodged a motion of no confidence.

Given the importance that we all attach to housing policy, I hope that members will stay focused on the policy that the Government is pursuing rather than on whose name is on which door, because I think that there is more common ground between us than is sometimes recognised. The importance of housing policy has been recognised by members across the spectrum, and I believe that its importance is written right through the “Housing to 2040” strategy—the long-term vision for housing in Scotland—as well as in the housing elements of the programme for government and the Bute house agreement, which build on that long-term vision.

I will not have time to address all the issues that have been raised today, but supply is, of course, critical—not only the extent of supply, but the nature of supply. Several members have raised issues such as rurality. The existing commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 includes at least 10 per cent of those being for remote, rural and island communities, including through our demand-led rural housing fund as well as the remote, rural and island housing action plan, which will bolster that work. Like Ariane Burgess, I want to recognise the importance of community housing bodies in delivering that work.

The nature of supply is also about accessibility and the work that we are doing to streamline the adaptation system, as well as reviewing housing for varying needs, which will lead to changes to building standards.