We must cut the slum landlords down to size
20k Scots are squeezed into overcrowded rented homes
SLUM landlords are squeezing soaring numbers of Scottish families into cramped homes, according to shock figures.
Official statistics reveal that more than 20,000 Scottish families who rent privately now live in overcrowded conditions.
Scottish Labour last night raised concerns that Scotland’s landlords are abusing the system by letting out properties which are too small for the number of inhabitants.
The figures show that the number of overcrowded households in the private rented sector has more than doubled since 2012.
That year 10,000 households in Scotland’s private rented sector were legally defined as overcrowded.
By 2016, the most recent year for which the figures are available, that figure had more than doubled – to 23,000. The number of people who should live in a home depends on the number of rooms there are in the property, the size of the rooms and the ages of the people who live there.
Labour are planning a crackdown on slum landlords with a “Mary Barbour law” to reform the rented housing sector.
Named after the housewife who became the leader of the historic Glasgow rent strikes of 1915, the law would ensure proper standards in the private rented sector. Scottish Labour’s housing spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: “More and more of Scotland’s private renters are finding themselves squeezed into unsuitable accommodation.
“We cannot continue to ignore conditions in the fastest growing part of the housing sector.
“The private rented sector has grown dramatically in last 15 years but our laws haven’t kept pace to support tenants.
“Renting should be a secure and viable long-term housing option, the means to live in a location that you choose and a way to save up for a deposit if you want to buy a home. However, for too many people it is none of these things.
“That’s why Labour are proposing a ‘Mary Barbour law’ to reform the private rented sector, so no one is overpaying for an overcrowded property.”
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “We recognise the private rental sector has grown substantially in recent years and are taking action to increase affordable housing supply, including that for rent.
“Our recent rental income guarantee scheme will boost the emerging build-to-rent sector.
“We’ve ended right to buy in Scotland, and reintroduced council house building.
“Along with action that has seen thousands of empty homes brought back into use, that is all helping to meet our ambitious commitment to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes – with at least 35,000 of these for social rent.
“We have also introduced significant improvements through our new private residential tenancy, which will provide much greater rent stability and predictability for tenants and ensure tenants are able to act if they face unreasonable increases.”