Chamber and committees

David Melhuish spoke about having diverse supplies of new homes on the market. In written evidence, the Scottish Property Federation wrote about the potential of emerging housing tenures such as build to rent. It wrote that there were around

“17,000 BTR homes in the ... pipeline, but there is no guarantee they will be delivered due to the uncertain policy environment.”

Will the Scottish Property Federation expand on the benefits of build-to-rent housing? What sort of action should the Scottish Government take to make Scotland a more attractive place to build homes of all tenures?

I was actually going to ask my main question, which is on the subject that the witnesses are talking about.

Last week, we heard that the changes to the regulations are viewed by many as confusing, and today we are hearing that missing data could cause a problem as well. The importance of data was also mentioned last week by Callum Chomczuk—I hope that I said his name right—from the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland.

Today, we have heard views from the tenants’ side, but I now want to speak about landlords. First, should we go ahead with the regulations, given the confusion that exists and the missing data?

Secondly, will the regulations impact on the supply of housing? The policy is basically taking the investor out of the market, and we will have fewer houses available to rent. Will there be a greater shortage of homes? Should we strike a balance in the policy in the interests of tenants and landlords? Basically, my questions are, how could we strike that balance, and should we go ahead with the regulations? I invite David Melhuish to answer first.

Listening to everybody’s evidence is so important. Rhiannon, you said that the primary test was ensuring that everyone had a safe home, while Emma Jackson talked about citizens facing harm due to not having the right housing.

Although housing to 2040 commits to implementing and embedding homelessness prevention pathways for marginalised groups, a shocking number of victims are being left in limbo after leaving violent households, oftentimes accompanied by their children. On average, survivors of abuse are stuck in temporary accommodation for hundreds of days, despite the fact that the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 was passed more than three years ago. Do witnesses agree that we are not seeing quick enough action to implement recommendations to improve housing outcomes for victims of domestic abuse and other marginalised groups?

Jane Wood talked about understanding and breaking down the barriers, and mentioned the issue of planning. We all know that Scotland is facing a housing shortage at the moment, and that, therefore, critical action needs to be taken, especially in our planning system. Despite a drop in applications for major housing developments as well as for local housing developments, application process times are far exceeding the statutory timeframe. On top of that, the Scottish Government announced a 43 per cent reduction in the planning budget. What actions can be taken to implement meaningful change as quickly as possible, so that Scotland’s people have the homes that they need and deserve?

Sally Thomas, would you like to add anything?

Thank you very much for that response, John. You have spoken about landlords needing the confidence to keep letting, and we have spoken about the fact that there is a big issue right now with the supply of housing. Maureen Chalmers mentioned earlier that people are opting out of being private landlords.

My question is about private landlords and the rent cap. The Scottish Property Federation has warned that the Scottish Government’s rent cap has created an affordability crisis, which is what we are speaking about today. Reportedly, rents in Scotland have increased by more than 14 per cent despite the cap, and Scotland is the only part of the United Kingdom in which the number of properties sold by landlords has gone up.

Last year, a report published by the Scottish Property Federation showed that rent controls and political uncertainty were impacting investors. Today, John, you have spoken about that a little.

There is an appetite to fund and build homes in Scotland, and the regulations increase uncertainty. Is increasing investor appetite a more sustainable way to drive rents downwards in the long run, or do we have to re-look at what is coming out in the measures, as you have said, because they are uncertain and unclear?

You said that you see the sector really suffering in the next five years and that we need to do something. The Government wants to put the rent cap in place but, as you said, most private landlords own only one or two properties, and their mortgages have gone up. They are in a crisis as well, in their own way. We need to have a happy medium. With the rent cap coming in, what do you see as the solution?

I am an MSP for the West Scotland region.

Maureen Chalmers, you talked about the disconnect between budgets and demand and homelessness. Do you have anything to say in response to my question on planning? Is there a disconnect with budgets or is there a disconnect with delivery and understanding who the customer is?

If no one has anything else to add, I will move to my next question.

Callum Chomczuk spoke about the lack of social housing and of quality housing. Having been fortunate enough to speak to 31 out of the 32 local authorities, I know that there is growing demand for accessible housing. Further, we know that the demographic is set to change with regard to our ageing population, and freedom of information requests by the Scottish Conservatives have revealed that there are around 40,000 disabled people on the social housing waiting list. To what extent has the Scottish Government adequately balanced the need to address short-term housing problems against long-term housing priorities, and do any priorities in that respect need to change?