1,000 signatures reached
To: Scottish Government
Protect Renters -- Now and After the Virus!
Protect renters from evictions and unaffordable rents -- both during the pandemic and in its aftermath.
Why is this important?
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
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
