Meeting of the Parliament 25 June 2014
I am pleased to take part in the stage 3 debate on the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
In the stage 1 debate, I welcomed the general principles of the bill, particularly the abolition of the right to buy, which will result in more than 15,000 homes in the social rented sector being retained over the coming decade. We must remember that the right to buy led to a significant reduction in the number of houses that are available for rent. Over the years, since it was introduced, the right to buy has greatly diminished the amount of housing stock of good quality that is available for rent to families throughout Scotland. We have a duty to provide homes of good quality for all families, including those who cannot afford to buy. The abolition of the right to buy will ensure that better properties in the more desirable areas will no longer be sold off, reducing the number of homes that are available for social rent. The abolition of the right to buy is long overdue, which is why it has been widely welcomed across Scotland. It will enhance social housing and protect the investment that is made in it.
I want to nail the lie that the Government’s record is anything other than a good one. The Government is outperforming the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat Administration’s record on council house building. Since 2007-08, 4,618 new council homes have been completed, compared with only six under the previous Administration. In fairness to James Kelly, whenever the issue has been raised in the chamber, he has always pointed to the fact that that statistic ignores the number of housing association homes that were completed. However, the SNP Government’s record in that area is also impressive. Since 2007-08, 30,292 housing association homes have been completed, which represents a rise of 12 per cent on the 27,000 homes that were completed under the Labour-Liberal Democrat Administration.
The bill has been greatly enhanced and strengthened by the improvements that have been made during its passage through Parliament. In a number of key areas, the Government has worked with stakeholders and MSPs from across the chamber to strengthen the bill. The Minister for Housing and Welfare, Margaret Burgess, deserves credit for the positive way in which she has entered into constructive dialogue on a range of issues. She has been willing to listen to and reflect on the arguments that have been presented to her, and the bill is better as a consequence of the approach that she has taken.
I am particularly grateful to the minister for meeting me and my colleague Alex Rowley to discuss temporary accommodation for homeless families. We were both concerned as a result of representations that we received from Shelter Scotland that, although the number of homeless families being placed in temporary bed and breakfast accommodation had reduced significantly since changes to legislation were introduced in 2004, a number of families, particularly pregnant women and children, were still being placed by some local authorities—by no means all—in accommodation that, to be frank, was not suitable for human habitation and was unacceptable in a civilised society.
The outcome of our discussions is that the Government will amend the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2004 to include a reference to accommodation being wind and watertight. The amended order will provide further clarity to local councils regarding the provision of temporary accommodation. All people, regardless of what type of accommodation they find themselves in, have a right to enjoy their lives in comfort, safety and dignity. I look forward to the amended order coming into force by the end of the year to achieve that. I very much welcome the progress that has been made on that during the bill’s passage. I am grateful to Alex Rowley for his support and to Shelter Scotland for its expertise on the issue.
I was also grateful for the opportunity to meet the minister along with Sarah Boyack to discuss a number of issues on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. As a result of that meeting, the Government introduced further changes in relation to the recovery of costs under a repayment charge that will allow local authorities to determine a repayment period of between five and 30 years and provide a right of appeal for any person who is aggrieved by the period of the charge.
The final area on which progress has been made is making carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in the private rented sector. Again, I am pleased to have worked with Shelter Scotland to bring about that change and I am glad that the Parliament has acted to address the issue so that all private tenants can feel safe from the threat of that so-called silent killer.
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