Chamber and committees

Yes, thank you—

Part 1 of the bill gives ministers power to designate part or all of a local authority a rent control area based on the reports that councils have to submit. The minister has mentioned Edinburgh and Glasgow. Does the Government have indications at this stage from other areas that it expects to take such a direction, and will the tests be the same for all local authority areas?

I am keen to know everyone’s views on whether there are specific avenues for either raising revenue or for the marine directorate using less money to do what it already does.

People not being able to afford their rents will also cause homelessness.

To clarify, you are saying not necessarily that there needs to be more private landlords, but that we need more availability in general—for example, by increasing housing stock in the social sector.

I want to dig down a bit more on CIH thinking that there are parts of the Housing (Scotland) Bill that might contribute to homelessness. Callum, can you go into more detail on that?

How big should the private rented sector be?

Very briefly, do you think that what deposits can be retained for in terms of repairs needs to be made more specific, so that a deposit does not amount to betterment for a landlord?

Tony Cain touched on this earlier in connection with adaptations. I do not know whether you are aware that Marie Curie is arguing for strengthened succession rights in general for bereaved tenants. Is there a place for that in the bill, and how far should such provision go?

Are we at risk of losing professional landlords with high-quality housing if we bring in rent controls?