Meeting of the Parliament 28 November 2024
I will come on to that point later in my speech. One of the most important points when it comes to the situation between tenancies is to make sure that we do not have a two-tier rental system. However, I will address the issue of investment later in my speech.
In spring 2025, we will carry out a consultation to support consideration of how powers to exempt certain types of property from rent controls could be used. That will include consideration of how new housing that is built or developed specifically for private rent, including for mid-market rent, would be treated and of the circumstances in which rents might be increased above the level of the rent cap.
Although we consider that any exemptions from rent control should be set out in secondary legislation, we are taking steps to hold the consultation early, while the bill is still being progressed, to ensure that those regulations can be laid at the earliest opportunity if the bill is passed.
The bill proposes wider reforms of the rented sector, which include a range of changes that will help to improve how the rented sector operates and the renting experience of tenants. In recognition of the fact that there are certain circumstances and times of year when being evicted can be particularly problematic, the bill imposes a duty on the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland and courts to consider whether the enforcement of an eviction should be delayed, except in certain circumstances. In cases of antisocial or criminal behaviour, it would rarely be reasonable to delay an eviction.
The bill will help to improve the renting experience by strengthening the right of private residential tenants to make certain changes to their home and by giving most private and social tenants the right to ask to keep a pet and not be unreasonably refused. Last week, I visited the Scottish SPCA’s Edinburgh rescue centre and heard how the measures in the bill will make a real difference in helping families to keep their pets.
The measures in the bill also include changes that reform how civil damages for unlawful eviction are calculated and that make it easier for a tenant to seek damages for an unlawful eviction. In addition, the bill will enable unclaimed tenancy deposit funds to be used for the benefit of private rented sector tenants.
On domestic abuse, the bill is designed to provide an additional mechanism for joint tenants to end a tenancy in situations in which there is no mutual agreement. That will ensure that no joint tenant can be trapped in a tenancy indefinitely against their will, which is important in cases in which domestic abuse is a factor.
We know that men and women experience homelessness differently. Our response to their housing needs is also different. Our focus on domestic abuse is key, as domestic abuse is one of the main reasons why women make homelessness applications. Twenty-three per cent of the women who sought homelessness assistance in 2023-24 cited as their reason for doing so violent or abusive disputes in the household.
The bill will update the definition of domestic abuse in relation to housing allocations and homelessness legislation to recognise the wide range of behaviours that constitute domestic abuse, which include coercive control. The bill will also put a duty on social landlords to outline in their domestic abuse policy how they will support tenants who are experiencing domestic abuse to prevent them from becoming homeless.
The measures in the bill aim to put a renewed focus on homelessness prevention so that individuals and families do not have to experience the trauma and disruption to lives that homelessness causes. We want to help to keep people in their homes, whenever that is possible and appropriate, and, in the longer term, we want to ensure that there is less pressure on housing supply and public resources.
The measures in the bill have been guided by the principles of shared public responsibility, earlier intervention across systems and the provision of more choice and control over housing options through avoiding the crisis of homelessness. The new ask and act duties for a range of relevant bodies in areas such as health and justice are bold, and they reach further than similar duties that have been introduced elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Crucially, the source of the ask and act duties lies in the recommendations of those who have lived experience of homelessness, who pointed to the missed opportunities to prevent homelessness that they had encountered.
Although Scotland has some of the strongest rights in the world for people who become homeless, the bill gives us an important opportunity to introduce measures to help to better protect people who are threatened with homelessness and to shift the focus to early intervention and co-operation across services.
There has been extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation to help to inform the development of the measures in the bill, and that engagement will continue as the bill progresses through Parliament. I hope that we can agree that the general principles of the bill are ones that will be welcomed across Scotland.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Housing (Scotland) Bill.