Scottish Conservatives call out SNP over flawed Scottish Housing Bill

There was a time in Scotland when owning your own home wasn’t a distant aspiration, it was an achievable goal.

If you worked hard, paid your taxes, saved what you could, you could build the foundations to become a homeowner. That used to be the story for so many Scots people like my parents and grandparents, who built their lives around the stability of owning their home.

However, after over eighteen years of SNP government, that ambition to buy a house has become a pipe dream for far too many.

Under the nationalists, housebuilding targets have been missed year after year, local authorities have seen their budgets cut, while developers and landlords face a sea of red tape that stifles investment and delays delivery.

The result? Too few homes being built, at too high a cost, and at too slow a pace. It’s not just aspiring homeowners who are suffering. Thousands of Scots remain stuck in temporary or unsuitable accommodation as waiting lists for social housing continue to soar.

Housing is one of the most basic human needs, and providing every family with a roof over their head should be a fundamental duty of government. Yet, the SNP have not even put the spades in the ground to make this a reality.

This is why the Scottish Parliament declared a housing emergency last year.

The bill was destined to fail

Those words are not just a headline; it’s a daily reality for people who have lost all faith in a system that no longer works.

When the Housing Bill came before Holyrood, politicians from across the divide had a genuine opportunity to put petty political grievances aside and address this crisis.

My party went into these proceedings with an open mind, ready to work with colleagues from across the political spectrum.

However, it quickly became clear that nationalist politicians weren’t interested in addressing this crisis, as they were too busy trying to salvage a bill created under the disastrous power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the extremist Scottish Greens.

We need to remember this bill was originally proposed by a former Green Minister, one who is opposed to aspiration, demonises landlords and does not believe in homeownership. The bill was destined to fail and should have been scrapped as soon as the coalition government imploded.

The Scottish Conservatives voted against this bill, as rent controls will create an even more hostile environment for investors and make it harder for Scots to get a home of their own, whether that’s social housing, a private rental or if they are fortunate enough to be in a position to buy.

In the last year, only 19,078 new homes were completed across Scotland, the lowest number since the pandemic year of 2020-21. Of those, just 4,490 were affordable homes. At this pace, the SNP will fall hopelessly short of their promise to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

We can’t accept this as the new norm. We need to build more homes, more quickly.

Rent controls are a ‘cure’ that’s worse than the disease

That means properly funding local authorities, reforming the planning system so it supports rather than obstructs growth, and making full use of Scotland’s brownfield sites, derelict land and empty homes.

Perhaps the most damaging SNP policy of all has been their obsession with rent controls. I understand why rents have become a flashpoint, they have risen sharply in recent years. However, rent controls are a ‘cure’ that’s worse than the disease.

By discouraging landlords from letting their properties, they shrink the rental market and drive prices up even further. We’ve already seen many small landlords leave the sector altogether as this government works against them, rather than with them.

Instead of punishing those providing homes, we would create a rental market which incentivises landlords to let their properties, combined with an increase in housing supply.

We would scrap the SNP’s plan for damaging and permanent rent controls. This would stop the exodus of landlords from the market and reduce the exponential rise in rents we saw a few years ago.

We would also do more to make homeownership a reality. Right now, it is almost impossible for Scots to get on the property ladder because of the unaffordability of homes and the huge sum of capital needed upfront. What used to be a normal life milestone has become a distant fantasy for many.

That’s why we would abolish the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax on primary residences, mirroring Kemi Badenoch’s policy on rent controls south of the border, to remove one of the biggest barriers to getting a foot on the property ladder.

We would also protect homeowners from Net Zero regulations by guaranteeing that no new energy efficiency upgrades will be required by law over the next session of parliament.

As a Conservative, I believe that owning your own home should not be some unattainable goal, but within reach for everyone who puts in the hard graft and plays by the rules.

Our vision is simple: cut red tape, speed up planning, empower councils and create the conditions for builders, landlords and homeowners to thrive.

This article is an opinion piece on the Scottish Housing Bill by Scottish Conservative shadow housing secretary Meghan Gallacher MSP