Meeting of the Parliament 23 September 2025 [Draft]
I will just take a wee moment to thank everyone on the legislation team for all their meticulous work, over many, many months, on this bill. I thank the cabinet secretary and her predecessors for their engagement on various issues. Most of all, I thank the organisations, the campaigners and activists who have got us to this point.
At various points over the past four years, it has felt like this day would never come. However, we are here discussing the final amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced by Patrick Harvie as part of the Scottish Greens’ commitment to a new deal for tenants.
That is the point of the legislation: to shift the balance of power away from a system that is rigged against renters to one that sees homes as places for living in, not for profiteering from. We have the chance to make living more affordable, healthier and happier for renters; to make renting safe and secure for those who choose to rent as well as those who have to rent; and to ensure that renting is a viable, non-stigmatising and genuinely valued part of our housing system.
It is for those renters that the bill exists. It aims to tackle the unchecked soaring rents to which they have been subjected for far too long; to give them the rights that will make their home really feel like their home; to provide protections against homelessness; and to give specific groups of tenants protections against rip-off rents and make housing fairer for them.
It is with those renters in mind that I speak to the amendments that I have lodged at stage 3. My amendments 150, 220 and 222 in this group are all about enabling better support for students. Amendment 150 would give ministers the power to subject student residential accommodation to rent controls. It does not mandate such controls, nor does it define their terms or constrain the Government in terms of timescale; it simply sets out the important principle that students deserve the same protections as anyone else who is renting a roof over their heads. That is important, because we know that the purpose-built student accommodation sector is getting out of control. Students in Vita Fountainbridge in Edinburgh, for example, are being charged £554—not per month, but per week. That just lines the pockets of private developers and property owners at the expense of students, at a time when we know that student homelessness is on the rise.
My amendments 220 and 222 are both the result of direct asks from the National Union of Students Scotland and others, and address a different set of issues. International students who come to Scotland to study are crucial to our higher education sector, and are important and valued members of our communities, yet they are often the targets of unfair practices. Those may include the demand for a deposit of several months’ rent in advance or the requirement for a guarantor, which, given that many international students will not have a network of support or family in Scotland, places many suitable properties way beyond their reach.