Extending rent cap will bring families stability - Lorna Slater

There are few things that are as important to our lives as where we live and the roof above our heads. Yet particularly in this cost of living crisis, too many are being priced out of our city.

Lorna Slater is the minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity

I believe that Edinburgh is the most beautiful city in Scotland, or anywhere in the UK. We are blessed with so many things that make it special.

Whether it is our iconic parks and gardens, our magnificent castles and galleries or our wonderful green hills. People travel here from around the world, with many wanting to explore these sights and walk the cobbled streets of Walter Scott’s novels or, more recently, Inspector Rebus.

But for far too many people who live here, the last few years have been particularly difficult. Prices have soared, with housing in particular leaving lots of people out of pocket.

In 2010 the average rent for a two bedroom property in Edinburgh was £665 which, at the time, was already the most expensive rate in Scotland. 12 years later that figure was over £1000, an increase of over 50% - well above the Scottish average.

Right from my first days as an MSP I heard from constituents who told me about the soaring rents that were causing them sleepless nights and of too many examples of landlords who did not seem to know what their responsibilities were.

That’s why, in 2022, I was so delighted when my Green colleague Patrick Harvie used emergency legislation to introduce a rent cap and new protections for tenants.

When our Parliament made history by voting for these vital changes I was thinking of the struggling families who could breathe a little easier, the low paid workers who’d had to take extra shifts to make ends meet and the indebted graduates who were waiting for their first pay cheques.

This month Patrick published plans to extend the protections until March 2024, with rent rises for private tenants capped at 3 per cent in most cases, where they are within a tenancy, and which is well below inflation.

Our parliament will vote on these proposals in the weeks ahead, which are far beyond anything else being done in the UK and give much-needed stability to people and families who are being hit with record food price hikes and so much more.

I want our city to work for everyone in it. I don’t want us to be yet another capital city where fewer and fewer people can afford to live comfortably and home ownership has become a pipedream.

I want houses to be more than brick and mortar. I want them to be homes, and that needs permanent change.

That’s why, in the agreement between the Greens and the Scottish Government we also committed to introducing new laws which would implement permanent rent controls and eviction protections, give tenants the right to keep pets & decorate their homes and much more.

No home can be left behind if we are to build the sort of society where everyone can have stability, peace of mind and a place to call their own.

Lorna Slater is the minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity