Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2016
I associate myself with the comments that have been made about the bill team and the clerks to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, who have stewarded us through the process. I also commend Jim Eadie for his convenership of the committee throughout the proceedings. The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill has been an interesting one to be involved in, and it is probably one of the most significant bills that we have considered, as it will impact on the lives of so many people in Scotland.
I will not have time to speak on all the areas of the bill, but some things that have come up this afternoon are worth highlighting. The review period, which we had a division on, will be significant. However, as the minister said, even though the bill will be passed today, the act will not be implemented until the tribunal is in place. That is likely to be perhaps a year to a year and a half down the line. To have limited ourselves to a three-year review period would have hardly given the act a chance to get started.
It is important that we have the review and that it is based on a comprehensive understanding of how well the bill has worked to rebalance the relationship between the tenant and the landlord. If the concerns that the Conservatives have rightly raised throughout the progress of the bill about how it might impact on investment in the private tenancy sector are realised, that will be taken into consideration in five years’ time. I suspect that some of the concerns will not come to fruition, but this is about reviewing and building the private rented sector, because we know that it has become very important in Scotland.
As Patrick Harvie rightly said, we also have to understand people’s right to a home and to feeling that the place where they live is a home and a place where they have security of tenure. That is why I was so happy that amendments on the succession of the family home were lodged and discussed at stage 2, and that the minister’s amendments at stage 3 met my concerns in that area.
Unlike Mr Johnstone, I do not think that the measure is overly complicated. It relates to family homes; if the person who is named in the tenancy dies, the other people whose home it is—say, a sibling, a child of adult age or a carer who has lived in the dwelling full time as their home—will have an opportunity, if they so wish, to stay in that family home. That is very important and will go some way towards giving tenants in the private sector more—