Living Rent

Living Rent is a national tenants' union in Scotland. Originally established in 2014 as a campaign group urging the Scottish Government to implement rent controls,[2] it subsequently became a mass membership organisation of tenants aiming to "tackle the power imbalance between landlords and tenants" through collective action.[3]

Living Rent
AbbreviationLR
Formation2014
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland
Membership (2020)
1,200[1]
Websitelivingrent.org

Living Rent is affiliated to ACORN International[4][5] and is an associate member of the International Union of Tenants (IUT).[6]

Structure

Living Rent is a democratic, members-led organisation. Members are organised in branches, typically at a neighbourhood level, each of which has a committee elected by local members. Branches work together on national campaigns through the national forum. A national committee elected by members at its AGM is legally responsible for the organisation and its good governance.[4]

History

Living Rent was established in 2014 in response to the announcement of a series of Scottish Government consultations on housing. Its three key demands were for rent controls, the abolition of no-fault evictions and greater flexibility for tenants to end leases early.[7] By 2015, Living Rent had established a national board, links to other organisations and trade unions, and local groups across Scotland.[2]

In October 2016, Living Rent held its first AGM as a tenants' union, reporting a membership of over 100 as well as 2,600 associate members and support from Unite the Union, Unison and the National Union of Students (NUS).[8] By its second AGM in January 2018, its membership had doubled to over 200, allowing Living Rent to hire full-time staff to support its work in Glasgow and Edinburgh.[9] The union's membership subsequently grew to over 500 by the 2019 AGM[10] and over 1,200 by the 2020 AGM, with over 300 people joining during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

In August 2021, Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie credited Living Rent with having "created the political space" for rent control proposals in the SNP-Green co-operation agreement, through which he became Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights later that month.[11]

References
  1. "Report from our fourth Annual General Meeting (but first on Zoom!)". 27 July 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. "Living Rent Campaign: Scotland's housing is "killing people"". CommonSpace. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. "Living Rent: Catching up with Scotland's Tenants' movement". Bella Caledonia. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. "About us". Living Rent. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. "ACORN International Affiliates". ACORN International. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  6. "Members". International Union of Tenants. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  7. "The time has come for a living rent". Bright Green. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  8. "Living Rent holds first AGM as a tenant's union". 8 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  9. "Living Rent holds second national AGM". 20 January 2016.
  10. "We're out for power, and all the locks and landlords in the world won't stop us smashing through!". Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  11. "We've negotiated rent controls for Scotland in our SNP deal – it could make renting and buying fairer". i. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
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