Supported by: Joan McAlpine*, Clare Haughey*, Bob Doris*, Ruth Maguire*, Bill Kidd*, Emma Harper*, David Torrance*, Fulton MacGregor*, Stewart Stevenson*, John Finnie*, Stuart McMillan* *S5M-06903 Patrick Harvie: Living Rent Launch Tenants' Union in Glasgow That the — Parliament welcomes the launch of an independent tenants union in Glasgow by Living Rent on ’ 29 July 2017; notes that figures from Citylets suggest that private sector rents in Glasgow had reached an average of £755 a month, and that the average rental costs in the city for the last five years have increased by 24%, which is nearly 7% above the Scottish average of 17.4%; believes that the over 327,000 private sector tenants in the city are increasingly struggling to afford these rising rents; understands that these are now the biggest cause of homelessness and considers such charges to be wholly unacceptable; urges the Scottish Government, local authorities and housing associations to work constructively with the Living Rent tenants union to protect and ’ enhance the rights of tenants and ensure that the private sector is well regulated and provides good quality, secure and affordable homes, and further urges them to increase the availability of social housing.