Liberal Democrat Councillor for Westhill & District, Iris Walker, has welcomed recent moves to improve Scotland’s private rented sector.

Cllr Walker said “The net annual shortfall of affordable housing across Aberdeenshire is estimated to be well over 500. That’s a huge amount of families living with the day-to-day stress of either being homeless or in unsuitable accommodation. With constrained public sector expenditure, greater effort has to be given to find solutions that do not rely on new-build grant funding which has been slashed by the Scottish Government. Aberdeenshire Council’s Local Housing Strategy acknowledges this challenge and recognises that private landlords will play a bigger part in meeting local housing need. One of the Council’s key actions is to improve the management standards and engagement with the private rented sector”.

Cllr Walker is also backing Shelter Scotland’s recently launched campaign aimed at making Scotland’s growing private rented sector fit for families and fairer for all.

The charity is calling for an end to the destructive cycle which sees tenants forced from pillar to post on short-term tenancy agreements often as short as six months. Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter said “Too often we hear of people being moved on, evicted or rents increased unreasonably, forcing people into the destructive and unsettling cycle of having to move house – every six months in some cases – preventing them from ever being able to put down strong roots or build a stable environment in which to live. Often, children’s education can suffer as a result of frequent moves to other schools. That’s why we are calling on the Scottish Government to reform the private rented sector and turn it into a place where the increasing numbers of people who rely on it can make a house a home and live with increased security and dignity”.

Iris Walker added “The benefits of reforming the sector would impact positively on landlords as well as tenants”.