Living Rent

Living Rent
AbbreviationLR
PredecessorEdinburgh Private Tenants Action Group
Formation2014
TypeTenants' union
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland
Membership1,200[1] (2020)
Affiliations
Staff9[2] (2021)
Websitelivingrent.org

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,[3] it subsequently became a mass membership organisation of tenants aiming to "tackle the power imbalance between landlords and tenants" through collective action.[4]

Living Rent is affiliated to ACORN International[5][6] and is an associate member of the International Union of Tenants (IUT).[7]

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.[5]

History

Living Rent was established in 2014 in response to the announcement of a series of Scottish Government consultations on housing. The organisation followed on from the Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Group (EPTAG).[8] Living Rent's three key demands were for rent controls, the abolition of no-fault evictions and greater flexibility for tenants to end leases early.[9] By 2015, Living Rent had established a national board, links to other organisations and trade unions, and local groups across Scotland.[3]

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).[10] 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.[11] The union's membership subsequently grew to over 500 by the 2019 AGM[12] 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.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Report from our fourth Annual General Meeting (but first on Zoom!)". 27 July 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Micro company accounts made up to 31 May 2021". Living Rent. 31 May 2021 – via Companies House.
  3. ^ a b "Living Rent Campaign: Scotland's housing is "killing people"". CommonSpace. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Living Rent: Catching up with Scotland's Tenants' movement". Bella Caledonia. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b "About us". Living Rent. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  6. ^ "ACORN International Affiliates". ACORN International. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Members". International Union of Tenants. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  8. ^ Hammar, Magnus (November 2016). "Five young organisations: Fighting gentrification, speculation and unaffordable rents" (PDF). Global Tenant. Stockholm: International Union of Tenants. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  9. ^ "The time has come for a living rent". Bright Green. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Living Rent holds first AGM as a tenant's union". 8 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Living Rent holds second national AGM". 20 January 2016.
  12. ^ "We're out for power, and all the locks and landlords in the world won't stop us smashing through!". Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  13. ^ "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.