The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has welcomed the Scottish Government’s changes to the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act.
The changes, announced on the 19th January, means SFHA’s members will continue to keep rents affordable, in line with the requirements of the Scottish Social Housing Charter, and tenants will continue to have an active and direct role in rent consultations with their landlord.
The legislation will allow SFHA’s members to plan new-build developments and improvement programmes for existing homes as well as continue delivering support services for tenants during and beyond the cost-of-living crisis.
Sally Thomas, SFHA Chief Executive, said: “Housing associations are supporting tenants throughout the cost-of-living crisis and are doing all they can to reduce poverty across Scotland. This legislation means our members can continue to set affordable rents in an open and transparent way, involving tenants in decisions on services, maintenance and management for the upcoming year and continuing their essential work on building much-needed new affordable homes.
“A rent freeze could have removed more than £200m of investment from building new social homes, maintaining existing ones and helping people in their tenancies, while making little difference to individual tenants’ incomes. Investing in good quality, warm homes for social rent is crucial to tackling poverty in Scotland and protecting all tenants from the increasing cost of living.”
In December, SFHA published a statement, supported by the Scottish Government, which underlined its longstanding history of working with the Government to protect tenants and communities across Scotland. The statement set out specific actions that SFHA members will take to further support tenants through the cost-of-living crisis, along with commitments by government.
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