What has the Scottish Parliament done?
Here are a few examples of what has been done in this area:
Legislation
A Bill for an Act of the Scottish Parliament to amend the law on the regulation of social landlords and to reduce the influence of local authorities over registered social landlords.
Summary (139KB pdf)
This act aims to create simpler tenancies, offer stability and security to tenants in the private rented sector, and ensure predictability over rent increases. It created a new type of tenancy known as a private residential tenancy.
Summary (187KB pdf)
This act aims to give social landlords more flexibility in allocating and managing their housing stock, and introduced a new tribunal to deal with disputes in the private rented sector. It also ended ‘right to buy’, that is, the legal right of ‘secure tenants’ of a council house or housing association to buy their home at a discount.
Summary (116KB pdf)
Committee inquiries
The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee examined the impact of Scottish Parliament delegated legislation in 2012 that entitled all unintentionally homeless people to settled accommodation. The committee heard that major steps had been taken to meeting the target as a result of local authorities assessing individual circumstances more effectively and preventing homelessness.
What is the Scottish Parliament doing?
Here are some examples of what the Scottish Parliament is doing in this area:
The Local Government and Communities Committee has explored the underlying reasons which can lead to a person seeking homelessness services, and whether homelessness prevention services are effectively tackling those underlying reasons for homelessness.
The petition sought to make all housing associations subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2002. The Local Government and Communities Committee is seeking an update in relation to the outcome of the Scottish Government’s consultation.
Follow the work of the Local Government and Communities committee on its webpage.
Official Report
What is said in public in committees and in the Chamber, including debates and statements by Scottish Government Ministers, is recorded in the Official Report.
Use the Official Report search to find details of MSPs’ discussions in the Parliament on a particular issue.
Questions and motions
MSPs ask questions and lodge motions, some of which are debated, to gather information and raise awareness of issues.
Enter a keyword in the search to find out what MSPs have said about a specific subject.