Under consideration PE1959: Tackle Scotland’s affordable housing crisis
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to take action to improve the current housing crisis by:
Merging housing associations and local council housing; and
consider introducing a new right to buy scheme for council tenants.
Previous action taken
I have contacted the Scottish Government and received a response outlining their commitments to delivering affordable homes that are available for social rent.
Background information
I propose that the Scottish Government should consider the following steps to improve the current housing crisis:
Housing Associations are merged with Council Housing. This could help more council homes become available and would be a major, first step in battling what is, in some areas, a significant housing crisis. In fact, I suggest this would see 76,307 Council Homes being built by 2034.
Creation of a new right to buy scheme. This could be set up in a way which allows council tenants the opportunity to make one final payment of between £10,000 - £20,000 to buy their home from the council if they have lived in the property for 10 or more years.
Using the average rent prices in Scotland from 2020-21, which is £75.76 per week, and then adding on the £10,000 - £20,000 final payment, would produce affordable house prices in the region of £46,364.80 to £56,364.80 per home (based on a tenant paying rent every 4 weeks).
This petition is now under consideration by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
26 signatures