Living Rent

Living Rent is Scotland tenants' union, representing renters across the country.

New Campaign Campaigns

  • Stop holiday lets destroying our communities
    Holiday lets are ripping Scotland’s communities apart. In some places, there are now more holiday lets than normal homes for rent. That means families with nowhere to go are forced out of the places they’ve called home all their lives. But it doesn’t have to be like this. The Scottish government are asking the public for views on what to do about holiday lets, and together we can make sure we win real protections for our communities. The big lobbyists protecting companies like Airbnb will be working double-time to stop any new regulations that could hit their astronomic profits. It’s down to us to drown them out.
    13,714 of 15,000 Signatures
    Created by Emma Saunders
  • Protect Renters -- Now and After the Virus!
    The coronavirus pandemic has exposed how deeply broken Scotland’s housing system is. Before the pandemic, tenants were already living paycheck-to-paycheck with exploitative and unaffordable rents. Because of coronavirus, many workers have lost their jobs or faced reduced incomes and have been unable to pay rent altogether. While some people have been lucky enough to quarantine in comfortable, warm, spacious homes -- far too many renters have had to see out the pandemic in cramped, dangerously poor-quality housing. So far, the Scottish Government has been woefully inadequate in its support for tenants, doing little more than introducing a temporary ban on evictions while home-owners and landlords have benefitted from mortgage freezes and millions in interest-free loans from the Scottish Government. We are now nearing the end of the eviction-ban, and as things stand, tens of thousands of people who have not been able to afford their rents are now shouldered with crushing debt burdens. This will cause an unprecedented wave of evictions across the country and will only further prolong this health crisis. It can’t be allowed to happen. That’s why we are demanding that the Scottish Government immediately: 1) Extend the evictions-ban for all tenants who have fallen into rent arrears as a result of the pandemic 2) Introduce emergency support measures to stop tenants facing enormous and unaffordable debt burdens from unpaid rent And in the long-term: 3) Implement rent controls to protect tenants from sky-high rents and punitive increases, as well as to guarantee that landlords can’t take advantage of new support measures for tenants by increasing rents 4) Build more social housing that is healthy, safe, affordable, and in quantities that will meet everyone’s needs
    2,153 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Maria Elena Torres-Quevedo
  • Protect tenants during Coronavirus
    For renters, coronavirus is not only a major health concern - it’s a financial one too. People renting are some of the people most likely to be in the kind of precarious, low-paid work where taking time off to self-isolate is near impossible. If we're serious about containing the spread of the virus, tenants need to know that they won't face destitution for doing the responsible thing. That has to mean stopping rent collections for anyone affected - both those who are unable to work or who need to self-isolate - and making sure nobody faces the threat of homelessness or having to find another home during this time. If banks can grant home-owners ‘mortgage-holidays’, we need to see tenants given the same protections.
    16,120 of 20,000 Signatures
    Created by David Hanson
  • Scotland needs proper rent controls
    Renters in Scotland are suffering. Across the country, sky-high rents are forcing people into poverty and far too many tenants are living in slum-like conditions. We used to have rent controls to protect people from exactly this situation - until Thatcher scrapped them in the 80s - and now it’s time to bring them back. In 2016, the Scottish Government brought in so-called “Rent Pressure Zones” to try to tackle high rents, but these have failed. No council has been able to use them, and the evidence suggests it wouldn’t help even if they did. Now we need to bring in proper, nationwide rent controls. You can read more about the campaign and what rent controls would mean here: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17447397.campaigners-call-for-scotland-wide-rent-controls-to-help-tenants/
    19,397 of 20,000 Signatures
    Created by Emma Saunders
  • Rent Controls for Edinburgh
    Renters in Edinburgh are struggling. Year in, year out rents go up far faster than wages, and it is reaching a breaking point. Edinburgh City Council has the power to designate areas as so-called ‘rent pressure zones’ and bring in rent controls, to stop landlords ripping tenants off for poor-quality housing. It’s time for them to use these powers.
    5,323 of 6,000 Signatures
    Created by Emma Saunders