The Green Party says there should be an end to private rental sector eviction grounds “such as the wish of the landlord to sell.”

The Scottish arm of the party, which has as its housing spokesperson Andy Wightman – a Member of the Scottish Parliament – has been told that private tenants should also have “realistic and effective rent controls including the right to request a rent reduction.”

In a speech to the party’s virtual Scottish conference, Wightman says high rents and too much sway being given to landlords over tenants combine to produce one of the most unfair lettings markets in Europe.

“Many young people in particular are struggling to afford housing being forced into the private rented sector with exorbitant rents in places like Edinburgh” he says, adding: “We are failing. Because housing is framed as a property rights issue rather than a human rights issue. Because housing is seen as a financial investment rather than a place to call homeInstead he calls for ‘a new deal for housing’ in the country.”

Wightman tells his party: “In few other countries in Europe are the rights so skewed so much in favour of landlords. In few other countries in Europe do housing costs contribute so much to poverty.

“The Recent Edinburgh Poverty Commission found that 29 per cent of households in this city were living in poverty solely due to housing costs. In short, there is no pathway to eradicating poverty that does not run through housing. And that is why Greens will be proposing a new deal for Scottish housing.”