Homes are key to building a fairer, greener Edinburgh - Lorna Slater

As an MSP, one of the issues constituents contact me about the most is housing. Far too many people in our city are paying extortionate rents, far too many are in cramped and overcrowded accommodation, and far too many are being unfairly penalised by unaccountable landlords.

I want to help all these people and will always try my best to do so. But if we really want to address housing issues in Edinburgh and beyond it will need real and fundamental change to what has become a broken market.

Rent in Edinburgh is already higher than in the rest of the country, with a 2019 study finding that with an average monthly rent of £1100, it is £300 more expensive to rent in Edinburgh than any other Scottish city. And, with average house prices being six times the level of average salaries, the market is becoming increasingly inaccessible to many people.

That is why the Edinburgh Poverty Commission concluded that “there is no solution to poverty in Edinburgh without resolving the city’s housing and homelessness crisis.”

The first step to resolving the crisis is by introducing a new deal for tenants, with proper regulations. A lot of the worst landlords treat their tenants the way they do because they know that they will get away with it. That needs to stop. We need a strengthened registration process for landlords and greater resources for local authorities to support tenants and enforce standards.

Housing is a human right, but families in Edinburgh face an average three year wait for a council house. Everyone should be entitled to good quality housing at an affordable price. Social housing has a key role to play in making that a reality.

But it wouldn’t be right to focus on the situation in Edinburgh without talking about short-term lets, where stronger regulation is vital. Right now, they are out of control, with large parts of Edinburgh being taken over by AirBnB. In some parts of our city entire stairwells are being used for short-term lets.

The pandemic has made many of these questions even more pertinent by squeezing incomes and putting far more people in precarious positions. And that has implications for our physical and mental wellbeing, especially at a time where more of us than ever before have been working from home and turning our kitchen tables into offices.

Last year my Green colleagues secured a ban on winter evictions, but we were unable to get it extended for the full duration of the pandemic.

In June I supported an intervention by Living Rent campaigners to stop a family from being evicted in West Lothian. I was glad that I was able to be a part of the successful intervention, but it should not have happened in the first place. There will be similar evictions happening across the country that we do not know about.

As we emerge from lockdown, we need to ensure that warm, affordable housing is at the heart of our recovery. Where we live is so fundamental to our lives and our wellbeing. No home can be left behind if we are to build a fairer, greener Edinburgh.

Lorna Slater is a Green MSP for Lothian