Meeting of the Parliament 18 November 2015
Not at the moment. I ask the member to let me continue, as I want to make progress.
That is why we are taking through the Parliament the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill, which will bring security, stability and predictability for 700,000 tenants in Scotland while providing appropriate safeguards for landlords, lenders and investors. That landmark housing reform will introduce a modern tenancy for tenants and rent increases only once a year while removing the no-fault ground and giving landlords safeguards to enable them to get their home back.
The bill provides for a more professionally managed and better-regulated sector that provides good-quality homes and is attractive to those who want to live, work and invest in the sector. It will also introduce a discretionary power to allow local authorities to introduce rent controls in areas where there are excessive increases in rents and the local authority is concerned about the impact of that on housing in communities in their area.
We are fully aware of the different needs of individuals and we recognise them in funding housing for a variety of needs informed by local authorities’ local housing strategies. We are also responsive to different geographies from large-scale regeneration to the town centre first principle and the need to address more remote, smaller-scale, rural housing needs. In September, in our programme for government, we committed to a new rural housing fund that will launch next year.