Number of children in severe poverty doubles

The number of Scots children in private rented housing living in severe poverty has more than doubled in a decade, official figures have revealed.

There were 50,000 children in this category over the period 2015-16 to 2017-18, Scottish Government data shows, up from 20,000 a decade before.

Households are classed as being in severe poverty if they have less than 50 per cent of the UK median income to live on, after housing costs have been met.

Labour is proposing a “Mary Barbour law” – legislation named after the campaigner who led rent strikes in Glasgow in 1915 – which would bring new restrictions on costs in the private rented sector.

The party’s housing spokeswoman Pauline Mcneill said such a law “would give people hope that they can have secure, affordable tenancies”.

But she also insisted more council and housing association homes need to be built to help address the affordable housing shortage.

She said: “The housing crisis is creating acute child poverty across Scotland.

“Too many families are caught in a vicious cycle – a lack of affordable public housing forces people to rent privately and as a result they are paying ripoff rents which hammers their cost of living.

“We need an urgent change of pace – building more homes for social rent and fixing the problems in the private rented sector.

“Building more homes is key, social housing is the best value for money as an investment in the nation’s housing stock.”

Labour has set a target of 12,000 council and housing association homes built per year, with the lack of affordable homes pushing low earners into the “under regulated” private rented sector.

“Rent controls are enormously popular, and it is no surprise – far too many tenants across the country are being forced into poverty by sky-high rents”

GORDON MALONEY Living Rent