What do lower income tenants in Scotland's private rented sector want to see from a new Rented Sector Strategy?

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in partnership with the Scottish Government, has appointed a multi-disciplinary research team to deliver a new project exploring what people living on a low income want to see from further reform to the private rented sector in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have committed to tackling unaffordable rents and publishing a new Rented Sector Strategy by the end of 2021, informed by tenants and sensitive to current inequalities in housing, that will inform a new Housing Bill in 2022.

Edge Hill University, working with housing specialists from a consortium of universities including Stirling, Glasgow, and others, will lead a 10 month project to explore low-income tenants’ priorities for change. As well as identifying what needs to change from tenants’ perspectives, the research team will bring together tenants, housing specialists, landlords and policy makers to agree shared, specific, and deliverable recommendations for positive change.