A secure lease

With far more people renting privately, we should end the standard 6 month lease.

The short assured lease might have worked well during the buy-to-let boom but it means many people struggle to feel secure in their home. This is especially the case for the growing number of families in privately rented accommodation.

We believe the standard 6-month lease should be replaced with a longer term ‘assured’ tenancy. At the moment, a lease can be ended with just two month’s notice and no reason.

An assured tenancy means landlords would be better able to remove tenants who don’t pay the rent, damage the property or create antisocial problems, but would be unable to kick out tenants without valid reasons.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 didn’t go far enough. We want to see a more secure lease made the norm by abolishing short tenancies.