Meeting of the Parliament 21 January 2016
As a substitute on and ex-member of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak in the debate. My colleagues have already talked and will no doubt continue to talk about the bill, but this gives me a chance to talk about the Scottish Government’s record on housing and about the important part that the bill will play in continuing to improve the lives of those who live in rented accommodation, be that in the social rented or the private sector.
It is no coincidence that since the Tories began the sale of council housing 36 years ago we have seen a marked decline in the volume of low-cost affordable housing, and it is a shame that the Labour Governments that followed, both at Westminster and here at Holyrood, did nothing to address the issue. Thankfully the Scottish National Party Government has done the right thing and ended the destructive right-to-buy policy, a move that has helped local authorities across the country to have the confidence to build council houses once again.
Since 2007, despite the extremely harsh financial climate and the on-going Tory austerity agenda, as has been stated, the Government has exceeded its target of building 30,000 affordable homes by March 2016. We have invested a record £1.7 billion in housing, delivering 20,000 homes for the social rented sector and creating 8,000 jobs per year in the hard-pressed construction industry. As has been said, the SNP has made it clear that, if re-elected, we will build 50,000 more homes, supported by a financial commitment of £3 billion, a proposal that has been supported by Shelter Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.
We have well outperformed previous Administrations, with £135 million being invested through the council house building programme. Since 2009, this Government has built 5,350 council houses, compared with the six that were built in the previous Labour and Liberal Administration’s last four years in power. We are also outperforming the rest of the UK in building affordable homes, with 85 per cent more per head spent on social housing than in England and Wales.
Cathcart is perhaps behind only Sandra White’s Kelvin constituency in the number of private landlords and tenants that it has and, although most landlords behave impeccably, without a doubt there are a number who take advantage of their position, and there are tenants who feel that they do not have the requisite protections. The bill, if passed, should help that situation considerably.
Let me give a recent example of someone who came to one of my surgeries. He stays in a granny flat that has no hot water and which suffers from dampness and numerous other failings. He has learning difficulties, and he has only now started to get the support that he needs. Thankfully, his support worker came along and we are now on the case, so I hope that his housing situation will be dealt with. However, that kind of situation will be much easier to deal with if the bill becomes law.
In my constituency, we also have a number of ambitious building programmes. Cathcart and District Housing Association has recently repurposed the site of the old Holmlea school, which has lain empty for 15 years, in the hope of having social rented housing there in the near future. The site of the old Victoria hospital is currently being disposed of by the national health service, and the local community councils and the local community have already started to engage with the NHS on the type of affordable housing that they would like to see there. I suspect that many of the tenancies there will be in the private rented sector. Cassiltoun Housing Association is another one that has been doing great work, and it is building on the site of the old Castlemilk east church.
In the little time remaining, it would be remiss of me not to mention the great work being done by our Minister for Housing and Welfare, Margaret Burgess. Her drive and commitment are well recognised throughout the housing sector and beyond, and it is clear that the experience that she gained from her previous existence in the third sector has made her determined to ensure that she does all that she can to help as many people as possible to live in housing that is fit for the 21st century. She should be congratulated on that and on the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill, which I am delighted to support at this stage.
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