A Lanarkshire MSP had welcomed the publication of rent freeze and eviction ban legislation which she believes will help tenants across the area.
If passed, the measures in the Bill, which will be debated this week, will provide vital protections for tenants over winter and last until at least March 2023.
The Bill will help tenants across North Lanarkshire where the average monthly rent is around £400, which is an increase of approximately seven per cent since 2010.
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Gillian Mackay MSP, from the Scottish Greens, said: “There are few things as important to use as where we live. But, with soaring inflation and skyrocketing bills, these are desperate times for tenants all across Scotland.
“That is why the rent freeze and eviction ban are so crucial. They will provide stability and support for households and families across Lanarkshire and beyond at a time when many are being stretched from all directions.
“These vital changes stand in stark contrast to the incompetence and cruelty that we are seeing from Downing Street, where the government has just approved huge giveaways for bankers, polluters and the super rich at the same time as it is cutting benefits for many of the most vulnerable people.
“No home can be left behind if we are to build a fairer, greener and better recovery.
“Over the course of this parliamentary term we will be working with the Scottish Government to introduce the biggest expansion of tenants rights since devolution: including better rights and protections from eviction, the right to decorate and keep pets, and, perhaps most importantly, a robust national system of rent controls.
“With Scottish Greens in government we are not just talking about change, we are working constructively and delivering it.”
Central Scotland Labour MSP Mark Griffin said that “even if it has taken months to get to this point”, his party welcomed “the change of heart” from the Scottish Government.
Meanwhile, Miles Briggs, from the Scottish Conservatives, said there was international evidence that rent caps led to “quite severe” unintended consequences, including fewer properties being let out and a rise in homelessness.
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