Scotland’s first union for tenants has been launched to in order to tackle rogue private landlords and rising rents.
Increasing numbers of Scots, particularly the younger generation, are having to turn to the private rented sector due to house prices and difficulties in securing mortgages squeezing many out of the property market.
The Living Rent Tenants’ Union was originally set up as a grassroots campaign to call for better housing and rent controls two years ago while new housing legislation was being drawn up.
Organisers said they realised that while landlords have various industry bodies fighting for them, there was no similar national representation for tenants.
Around 14% of households currently live in private rented accommodation in Scotland, a figure which has more than doubled since 2001.
Liz Ely, chair of the Living Rent Tenants’ Union, said many were being forced to rent privately because of a lack of social housing and inability to get on the housing ladder, but it was very much a “landlord’s market”.
She said: “There was no specific tenant-led organisation in Scotland, so we recognised there was a gap which needed filling, as well as being inspired by tenants' unions in other countries such as Sweden."
Ely said she expected the union would be active in tackling issues such as poor quality of housing or campaigning to get an area designated as a 'rent pressure zone' - which means rent increases in a given area are limited for sitting tenants for up to five years. Rent pressure zones were one of the measures introduced by the Scottish Government under new laws designed to offer more protection to private tenants.
Ely said the union may also campaign in the future on issues such as a national system of rent controls.
She said: “We tend to think of sky-high rents in the UK being a London problem – but those kind of issues are very much here, particularly in Edinburgh and Aberdeen where competition for properties is very high."
Rachael Macleod Dunbar, 32, and her husband Allan Dunbar, 42, are facing a struggle with the cost of private renting. They currently stay in a one-bedroom flat in Glasgow’s southside, but are expecting a baby in October and are worried about being able to afford a bigger place.
Macleod Dunbar said: “We want to stay in this area, but you are talking about £600 for a two-bedroom flat and you need to pay your first month’s rent and deposit upfront. We are stuck this limbo when it comes to housing.
"I don’t think we will be able to afford a two-bedroom flat until this baby is at least a year old. I can’t help feel inadequate as a parent already.”
Mike Williamson, 27, who works in the voluntary sector in Edinburgh, has joined the tenants' union after experiencing difficulties in a previous flat he rented. He was left without a properly working toilet for nearly a month after problems with a leak – despite the fact he and his three flatmates were paying more than £1500 a month for the property.
He said: “We took some advice and were told we could probably claim compensation, but we would have to go through the courts and it would be very costly and not worth the money we would get back, and certainly not worth the time or the hassle.
"Practically every landlord I have had has been terrible and there is just no way of fighting back."
Douglas Robertson, professor of housing at the University of Stirling and member of the Scottish Government private rented sector strategy group, said: "Having tenancy rights defined in law is all well and good, but they can only function if people have the confidence to use them.
“A strong democratic tenants body is critical to ensuring such confidence."
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