Chamber and committees

Thanks for that. It is very interesting to hear about those consultation responses. When you have been at this committee before, you have talked about the three issues of building new supply, better fitting, and keeping the rents affordable. Given that challenge, I am interested in hearing from you about any new proposals that you would like to see being introduced or about ones that you are introducing yourself to tackle this situation.

Good morning, and welcome to the 24th meeting in 2022 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. Members should note that the convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, Elena Whitham MSP, is joining us for both of our substantive evidence sessions in this meeting. I welcome her to the meeting.

I ask all members and witnesses to ensure that their mobile phones are on silent and that all other notifications are turned off during the meeting.

We have received apologies from Annie Wells.

Agenda item 1 is to decide whether to take agenda items 4 and 5 in private. Do members agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.

Agenda item 2 is evidence taking on emergency legislation on a rent freeze and evictions moratorium.

We have two panels this morning, with some of the first panel participating remotely. Joining us in the room are Caroline Cawley, member, and Emma Saunders, national organiser, Living Rent; Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns, Propertymark; and Rhiannon Sims, senior policy officer, Crisis. Joining us online are John Blackwood, chief executive, Scottish Association of Landlords; Aaron Hill, director of policy and membership, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations; and John Kerr, vice chair, Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers. I welcome everyone to the meeting. I should say that once we have concluded taking evidence from this panel, we will hear from Patrick Harvie, the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights.

Before we move to questions from the committee, I want to make it clear that the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill was published only last night. As Parliament has agreed to all three stages of the bill being taken before Thursday, there is no formal role for this committee in its scrutiny. However, the committee previously agreed that it would be helpful to explore issues arising from the bill with stakeholders and the minister to help inform scrutiny of the bill in the chamber over the coming days. Given the timings, there is no expectation that witnesses will be fully up to speed with the specific content of the bill.

To ensure that everyone understands the process, I should say that members will have an allocated amount of time for their questions. We try to direct questions to witnesses, and we do not necessarily expect everyone to answer every single question. If you wish to respond to a question that has been directed to someone else, please indicate as much to me or to Euan Donald, the clerk, or, if you are on BlueJeans, put an R in the chat function.

We move to questions. The current cost crisis has required the Scottish Government to take legislative action to protect tenants, but do you think that it is a proportionate response that balances the rights of tenants and landlords? I will begin with Aaron Hill.

I really appreciate that you are doing that work. It sounds like net zero is an inherent part of the mix, which is great.

You will be aware of the £5 million islands bond fund, which the Scottish Government has decided not to progress. We have already chatted about the cluttered landscape of funding, but I am interested in hearing what you think would be the best way to repurpose that money.

It is fantastic to hear about the projects that received funding, and I am sorry that other projects, which were also important, did not get funding.

The witnesses have begun to touch on this, but we would like to hear a bit more about the impact of the competitive process on community engagement in the design and delivery of capital projects. Gareth Waterson, you have already said that your project was quite far on at that point, but Pippa Milne might want to say a little more, and then Russell McCutcheon might want to add something.

Thanks very much.

Thanks, Gareth. For clarification, do you think that funding should come from a pot of money that is separate from the rural and island housing fund, or do you imagine the funding being diverted into that fund and being accessed through one fund? I am considering the cluttered landscape of funding.

Absolutely. Does Pippa Milne or Russell McCutcheon have any thoughts on how to repurpose the £5 million islands bond fund?

As a Green, it is music to my ears to hear you talk about repurposing what we already have.

I love the term “location-agnostic working” that you used. It popped into my mind that perhaps we need something like a rural island and housing fund for workspaces, although I do not want to clutter up the funding landscape further. I am aware that Ireland is breaking through with that kind of community workspace hub.

I want to touch on the work that you are considering around the carbon neutral islands project, which feels like it is connected to your point about repurposing. Are you involved in that work in any way, or are you aware of it? Are you aligning your work with that project?