Meeting of the Parliament 21 January 2016
As has been said already, the private rented sector has become an important part of the rented sector. It now produces the houses that are needed for many people who are unable to find them in the social rented sector or through other affordable tenancy methods. As a result, any change in the legislation must take into account the requirement to ensure that that sector remains of adequate size to cope with demand or, better still, that investment is attracted into the sector in order to expand it and provide greater availability of housing through the sector.
For that reason, it is essential that as we, in the words of the minister,
“rebalance the relationship between landlords and tenants”,—[Official Report, Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, 2 December 2015; c 2.]
we do not do so in a way that will disincentivise investment.
There is organisational consensus that there is a need for the current tenancy regime to be overhauled. For that reason, when I spoke to representative organisations during the process that led to the introduction of the bill, I always encouraged them to be as engaged as possible and to get involved in the consultation because only by being involved could they understand the process that was taking place and, at the end of the day, ensure that we deliver legislation that suits the needs of landlords as well as tenants.
However, I am disappointed that, at this stage, the bill—much-needed though it is—is not quite in a form that I am able to accept. The convener of the committee made it quite clear that, on the subject of the removal of the no-fault ground, one of the committee members did not agree with the rest. I hold my hand up and admit that it was me. A good case was made by those who gave evidence for the retention of the no-fault ground. No one is suggesting that you should simply be able to throw people out of a tenancy for no reason. However, the no-fault ground has served tenants and landlords well during the time that it has been in use. The reason for that is that it often covers situations in which it is impossible to achieve viable objectives by other means. That relates specifically to a number of cases that have been drawn to my attention relating to antisocial behaviour.