Proposal no ‘cheats charter’

Jul 1 2009 by Kaiya Marjoribanks, Stirling Observer Wednesday

EVICTING poor council tenants for rent arrears is to become a thing of the past in Stirling.

At its meeting last Thursday, Stirling Council passed a motion to end the practice of evicting tenants for rent arrears.

Housing strategy portfolio holder Councillor Alasdair Macpherson, who put forward the motion, described the move as an “historic opportunity”.

He added: “This council evicted 23 tenants for rent arrears last year, in some cases families with children were involved.

“Evictions of this sort are draconian and like warrant sales, which were banned in 2000, this practice needs to be confined to the history books.

“In essence we are punishing people for being poor and the dehumanising practice of throwing people out of social housing in these circumstances is no longer acceptable, especially in this economic climate.

“We have an historic opportunity to safeguard our tenants in these challenging times and offer them similar levels of protection that private homeowners are experiencing who have difficulties with mortgate arrears.

“This will not, however, become a ‘cheats charter’ as significant resources and safeguards will be put in place to challenge people who might try to take advantage of this change in policy.

“The head of housing will work closely with the Scottish housing regulator to seek alternatives to eviction for rent arrears.”

The council agreed that reports will be tabled at every meeting of the appropriate committee of the council in order to gauge the level of rent arrears.

Tory councillors had lodged an amendment asking that housing officials bring forward a report to a future council meeting on the issue before any decision be taken.

However, this was voted down by the SNP, Labour and Lib-Dem groups.

Tory councillor Neil Benny said: “My family were one of those affected during the miners’ strike in 1984 but still managed to pay their rent.

“This motion is a slap in the face for the hardworking tenants who pay their rent on time.

“All we want is the chance to look into this and come back with the facts and information at our fingertips.

“I do take the points that have been made on the motion, but in terms of my amendment it is just urging the council to take a step back and formulate a policy that works for people.”

Labour’s John Hendry said: “The housing advisory group did discuss this and there were mixed views.

“All my political life I have supported the principles of this motion, however. I believe we can put enough constraints in place and support in place for families.

“I hope no one here will make a value judgement about why people get evicted as there can be fairly complex reasons why that situation comes about. But youngsters get damaged for life because of this process.”

SNP councillor Jim Thomson said: “Too many people can fall into the trap, some ending up at moneylenders. Like Councillor Hendry I am fundamentally opposed to evictions.

“I understand the concern that it could lead to a ‘cheats charter’ but I think Councillor Macpherson has covered that.”

Callum Campbell said: “To back up Councillor Benny I think we are all very sympathetic to situations that arise and no one wants to see anyone evicted from their homes.

“But the big danger is will people take advantage.”