Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 21 December 2021
I celebrated the strides that were made in the previous session of Parliament to make private tenancies more secure. They did not undo the fact that I had been priced out of my studio flat in Inverness when the landlord hiked the price despite there having been no hot water for a year, or the fact that I was kicked out of another flat because the owner wanted to stick it on Airbnb, but I knew that it would be harder for landlords to pull such things in the future.
I am as delighted as anyone else will be who has put off getting a pet, or who has snuck their cat into the back of a pal’s car every time the landlord has come round, that we are discussing the right for people to make their home their own.
Affordability is now the big issue that we have to tackle for private tenants. The commitments to build social and affordable housing across Scotland will do wonders for attempts to claw back some balance in the housing market. However, as fantastic as 110,000 new homes will be, we all know that that is not enough. The constant loss of homes to absentee landlords in tourist hotspots and the fact that so many people are waiting on housing lists that, half the time, someone has to be homeless to get a council house cannot be addressed by house building alone. In addition, on the subject of depopulation, the fact that a house is expected in 2035 will not prevent people from leaving the Highlands tomorrow.
I understand that it will take time to implement the measures that we are talking about. However, we must recognise that a five-year warning to landlords that they will not be able to increase rents will mean many hiking their prices now. I urge the minister to do what he can to tackle that mindset.
I have said in the chamber before, and I will keep saying, that we must not make policy that relies on the good will of landlords. We must make policy that puts the rights of tenants—people who use houses as homes—far above the rights of landlords to own multiple properties with little regulation and a guaranteed increase in their value.
Miles Briggs called the proposals controversial and asked for bailouts for landlords instead. I suggest that, if someone cannot meet their obligations as a landlord, they should not be a landlord. The proposals are not extreme—they are just not Conservative. Until Scotland starts to vote Conservative, my colleagues on those benches should probably get used to the fact that the Government is not Conservative either.
In some communities that I represent, overtourism has prompted the conversion of more than 50 per cent of locally available residential properties to holiday homes with key safes at the door. They lie empty; they cannot house our badly-needed health and social care workers, students or families; and they drive up the cost of homes and the ever-scarcer long-term rents that are available nearby. Whatever figures members use to argue how much money such properties bring to local pubs and shops, those places will not stay open without staff, and those staff need homes. Whatever members say about how much we need tourism, we need communities more.
I had eight addresses in the space of three years before I found my current flat. Such insecurity prevents people from bedding into their communities. I have heard stories about people in rural areas realising during the Covid pandemic that they had no neighbours to help with the messages because all the nearby houses were empty holiday lets.
In 2019, the Scottish Government reported that there were more than 22,000 whole-home Airbnb listings. That is equivalent to a fifth of our 14-year house-building programme. Four hosts were responsible for nearly 2,500 listings. We know that the issue is only getting worse, and rent controls may well make unregulated short-term letting at higher prices for shorter stays even more attractive. Although much of what I am hearing is positive, I urge the Scottish Government to work on the matter across portfolios. We need to tackle the housing crisis from all angles if we are going to make a difference.
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