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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 01 October 2024

01 Oct 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Housing
Briggs, Miles Con Lothian Watch on SPTV

The minister will know that, since his appointment, I have been trying to work constructively with him. However, I have to say that, after eight years as an MSP serving in this Parliament, I have never heard a more out-of-touch statement being delivered by a Government minister.

The minister stated that

“we have seen progress in reducing homelessness in some areas”

Progress? After 17 years of this Scottish National Party Government, 15,000 children are homeless in Scotland today, and homelessness has reached its worst levels since records began. The statement was, simply, complacent.

The minister singularly failed to mention the one negative policy intervention that housing associations, home builders and investors have told him and, I know, all the cabinet about—the Scottish National Party-Green rent controls policy. That policy has resulted in the total collapse in construction of mid-market rent homes, and in housing associations not building new homes and having to rewrite their whole investment plans—not to mention investors seeing Scotland as being closed for business.

The Scottish Property Federation estimates that £700 million in residential investment has been paused or lost due to the rent controls policy. Property developer Chris Stewart has said that Scottish Government ministers are responsible for a loss of more than £3 billion of investment, mainly in the build-to-rent sector, through the imposition of rent controls.

We need change and action. I therefore ask the minister whether he will take forward two changes. Will he agree to review national planning framework 4, which is now slowing down investment? Every house builder is saying that they cannot get access to land and are moving out of Scotland. Many Scottish home builders are now building more homes in England.

We also need the minister and the Government to accept that rent controls have failed Scotland and are failing renters. Will the minister make sure that the Housing (Scotland) Bill addresses that and, if need be, that rent controls are removed?

In the same item of business

The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone) NPA
The next item of business is a statement by Paul McLennan on delivering the homes that Scotland needs. The minister will take questions at the end of his sta...
The Minister for Housing (Paul McLennan) SNP
The future of housing in Scotland affects every constituency, every community and every family in the country. In a vibrant, cohesive and forward-looking cou...
The Presiding Officer NPA
The minister will now take questions on the issues that have been raised in his statement. I intend to allow about 20 minutes for questions, after which we w...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con) Con
The minister will know that, since his appointment, I have been trying to work constructively with him. However, I have to say that, after eight years as an ...
Paul McLennan SNP
I come back to my statement. I think that, when I made the statement and talked about setting up the housing investment task force, I recognised the role of ...
Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab
The minister said that he is “deeply concerned by” the devastating “statistics on homelessness”. I remind members that the minister is not a social commentat...
Paul McLennan SNP
I take my responsibilities very seriously, but there must be a partnership approach with the UK Labour Government, which has promised change and has a role t...
The Presiding Officer NPA
Give me a moment, minister. It would be much appreciated if members would cease speaking across the aisles and instead let us hear the minister.
Paul McLennan SNP
I also spoke about the role of acquisitions. For example, last July we announced additional funding for acquisitions, which brought forward more than 1,500 p...
The Presiding Officer NPA
Please always speak through the chair.
Paul McLennan SNP
I apologise. In a matter of weeks, you have responsibility to end the freeze on the local housing allowance. We spoke about asylum. You know about the press...
The Presiding Officer NPA
I remind members of the requirement to speak through the chair at all times.
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP) SNP
Today’s announcement is yet another example of the SNP Scottish Government’s determination to do all that it can, within the powers that it has, to deliver f...
Paul McLennan SNP
I mentioned the £22 million investment in the charitable bond programme to increase investment in affordable homes and to deliver more housing. That has enab...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con
The minister will be aware that house building is down by 15 per cent here in the Lothians. Each property that is built in the Lothians now costs an extra £3...
The Presiding Officer NPA
Always speak through the chair, Mr Balfour.
Paul McLennan SNP
A couple of points were made there. One was about planning—Mr Balfour will be aware that Mr McKee is responsible for planning. I will certainly raise that is...
Jeremy Balfour Con
It is nothing to do with that.
Paul McLennan SNP
It is everything to do with Brexit. If he spoke to contractors, Jeremy Balfour would know that it is everything to do with that. I remind him of Liz Truss’s ...
Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP) SNP
Scotland’s capital budget, which is used to build affordable homes, faces a 9 per cent cut from the UK Labour Government. Will the minister set out in real t...
Paul McLennan SNP
As Jackie Dunbar has said, Scotland’s capital budget, which builds affordable homes, faces a 9 per cent cut from the UK Labour Government. Previous capital c...
Paul Sweeney (Glasgow) (Lab) Lab
The minister has noted the pressure that the granting of refugee status to 2,709 people has put on homelessness services in Glasgow over the past year. Howev...
Paul McLennan SNP
I have mentioned the funding that goes to Glasgow, and I will come back to a number of Mr Sweeney’s points. On empty homes, we have contributed £11 million t...
Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP) SNP
The Scottish Government spends more than £90 million every year on mitigating the bedroom tax, alongside the welfare cap, thanks to the Tories, and now thank...
Paul McLennan SNP
The member makes a point about the £90 million. I note that it is £90 million this year, but it was also £90 million last year, the year before that, the yea...
Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) (Green) Green
I thank the minister for providing advance sight of his statement. Given that it is possible to create three homes from existing properties for the price of ...
Paul McLennan SNP
That is a really important question. The member and I have discussed that issue previously. I will comment first from a city point of view and then from the ...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP) SNP
Will the minister expand on the impact of the freeze in the rates of local housing allowance? What effect has that had on those private sector tenants who ne...
Paul McLennan SNP
The freeze in local housing allowance rates ended in April 2024 and rates have now been realigned with the cheapest 30 per cent of local rents. However, the ...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD) LD
Seventeen years on, the minister has the temerity to come here today, pretending to have a plan to match the scale of the housing emergency that his Governme...