Rowley calls for rent reforms
Private landlords in Stirling have raked in £4 million in housing benefit over the last five years, according to the Labour Party in Scotland.
It is part of the £2 billion in housing benefit made by private landlords in Scotland over the same period. Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Alex Rowley, who is MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said there was a crisis in the housing sector with one in every four pounds of housing benefit going into the hands of private landlords. And average private sector rents have soared by 14 per cent since 2010.
“Money that is spent on housing benefit should be used to support those that need it,“he said.
“Instead, we are seeing that money end up in the pockets of private landlords. That is why I want to see a reform of the private rented sector to ban rip-off rent rises.
“To begin tackling this, it is obvious that we need to build more houses.
“Scottish Labour would like to see 60,000 homes built over the next five years – 45,000 for rent through a council or a housing association.
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford said that when last in power in Scotland Labour built only six council houses in their last four years of power while in the SNP Government’s latest budget announced £470m for housing to help hit their target of 50,000 houses by 2020. He added: “Alex and his colleagueshave no answers themselves . It is no surprise they are languishing in the polls and people just don’t trust them on key issues.”