Ross Greer: Housing bill 'weakened' but still 'game changing'

Speaking ahead of the final vote in Holyrood this week, Mr Greer said: “It is one of those rare examples of where a bill goes through the Scottish Parliament to actually take power from a very wealthy and already, very powerful group of people and give it to those who really need it, taking from landlords and giving to renters.”

However, Mr Greer criticised the housing secretary's recent decision to exempt mid-market rent and build-to-rent developments from the rent controls, branding it “an invitation for big corporate landlords to cash in.”

Last week, Mairi McAllan said the governments decision was based "entirely on investment and investment leading to new stock.”

However, discussing the bill and this recent decision, Mr Greer told The Herald: “It's not the bill that we introduced when we were in government.

"Other parties have weakened it because they’ve come under so much pressure from the landlord lobbying groups."

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He added that a lot of parties in the Scottish Parliament are “bowing” to pressure from lobby groups “who just want to maximise their profits”.

Despite his frustration on this issue, the Scottish Greens co-leader confirmed the Greens will still back the legislation.

“Voting down this bill means one thing: no rent controls and no further protections for tenants," he said, "The bill is not as strong as it could have been and we are frustrated that other parties have weakened the proposals, but even watered down, this is still absolutely game changing."

He added: "Passing this bill, even with its imperfections, will still result in a huge advance for renters across the country.”

The Greens are also pushing for amendments to the bill which will be debated on today with a final vote being taken on Wednesday.

Mr Greer is confident that his amendment to scrap the cap on council tax for second and holiday homes will be added to the legislation as he referenced the housing crisis facing rural communities.

“Places like Lamlash on Arran where I represent, half of all homes are second homes or holiday lets. In parts of Wester Ross, it's more than half. One of the local councils in Sky suggested it's as high as 60% there," he said, “Young people are leaving these communities as soon as they can, because there's nowhere for them to get their own home.

"If you have no young people in your community, you have no one who's going to have children, the local schools close, people of working age move away."

He is also pushing for reform of Scotland’s council tax debt system, which currently allows councils to pursue arrears for 20 years—four times longer than in England. The Green amendment would bring this in line with down South, bringing the pursuit to 6 years instead.

However, Mr Greer is less confident this change will gain support in the Holyrood chamber.

“The one that's going to go right down to the wire that we are still speaking to the government about is using this as an opportunity to change the rules around council tax debts," he said, "Chasing people for decades doesn’t work. It traps families in poverty and costs councils more than they ever recover."

Anti-poverty campaigners have raised concerns that if a family has been unable to pay off their debts after five years of enforcement action being taken against them, continuing to chase them through the courts is unlikely to recover the money but will likely push them deeper into crisis.

The First Minister John Swinney has said he would need to consult with councils before taking any action on this, however, Mr Greer thinks the government can do both.

“If the Scottish government agrees with the principle that we need to do something about this situation, they can vote for the amendment, and we can then engage with local government about how to take that forward," he said, 
"We need to do something to break this cycle."

Mr Swinney has been vocal about his priority to eradicate child poverty and the Scottish Government has introduced the Scottish child payment benefit and decided to lift the two-child limit from March next year.

Last Wednesday, Mr Swinney announced that fairer futures partnerships schemes will be expanded to continue fighting child poverty.

Mr Greer said, with this in mind, he believes the council tax debt rules should be changed, saying: “The First Minister’s top priority is eradicating child poverty.

At First Minister's Questions last week, Mr Greer asked Mr Swinney if he agreed it was time to remove the debt.

Mr Swinney said: “Mr Greer knows the absolute focus that I have on eradicating child poverty. When I became First Minister, I was asked what the clear mission of my Government was, and I said that it was the eradication of child poverty.

“I have a lot of sympathy with Mr Greer’s point about long-standing council tax debt. I know that related provisions are being considered in the context of the Housing (Scotland) Bill; those proposals have not been subject to the amount of consultation that would normally apply for legislation.

“The Parliament rightly pressurises the Government to ensure that there is proper consultation — as do stakeholders, including our local authority partners.

“Having said all that, I am sympathetic to Mr Greer’s point, and I am open to further dialogue on how we might pursue his ideas in that respect.”

Almost 400 amendments will be debated before MSPs cast their final votes on the bill on Wednesday.

Despite the divisions, the Greens are expected to back the Bill, making its passage highly likely unless the SNP faces a major internal rebellion.

Scottish Tories are likely to vote against the legislation, with the party’s housing spokeswoman, Meghan Gallacher, describing the rent control provisions as “reckless”.

Scottish Labour had supported the earlier stages of the bill but said that significant amendments were needed.