Green in Govan: Water Row Rents, Public Meeting
Newsletter #34 - Water Row Residents stop rent rises and Govan Community Council is having a public meeting
Water Row Rents
Following years of building, the beautiful new flats at the Water Row development opened last year and tenants of the properties moved in. For those who don’t know the set up of these flats. They’re classed as “Mid-Market Rent” so specifically designed to be rented out to people who would struggle to purchase property but who would also struggle to get high enough up a list for social housing. Sounds like a good idea on paper right?
The flats at Water Row are owned and managed by the Water Row Company, a subsidiary company of local registered social landlord Govan Housing Association. The difference with Mid-Market Rent and Social Rent is that the former is classed in the exact same way as Private Rent. You don’t get a say on your rent increase, you can be evicted for next to no reason and you’re not entitled to any of the services that a Housing Association is funded to provide but it’s still owned and operated by a Housing Association. Many view the arrangement as a cash cow for Housing Associations although undoubtedly they’d disagree.
The specific problem that has come about at Water Row is that from moving in March 2024 to this year, some tenants have been faced with a rent increase of approximately 50%. No ifs, not buts. That was the Water Row Company’s (the subsidiary company of Govan Housing Association) decision and that’s that. To be clear, the decision was entirely legal which is a problem in it’s own right. At the time, many of the tenants reached out to politicians across the political spectrum and representations were made by Councillors, MSPs and the MP. None of these interjections however were successful.
In the meeting I had with the company, they openly told me that they were increasing to the maximum rent they could because they miscalculated the cost of the development, citing unexpected expenses like gardeners, indoor bin rooms and having to paint disabled parking spaces (which were a planning condition anyway). I said at the time and I stand by it, the rent increases proposed were due to a failure to adequately plan or manage the properties and that shouldn’t fall on the shoulder of tenants.
The tenants did try to use the Scottish Government’s “Rent Service Scotland” which is supposed to assess your rent level and can change it if you’re dramatically different from the expected market level. The feedback I got from tenants about this wasn’t anything to write home about.
With politicians being unable to convince the landlord and with the independent service unable to convince the landlord. The tenants chose to collectivise, and in doing so joined up with Scotland’s tenants union, Living Rent. I spoke to one of the fantastic organisers from Living Rent at the demo last night who said Living Rent were on the ground supporting the tenants for 6 weeks and they’ve managed to achieve a complete cancellation of the rent increase and a guarantee of real consultation before any other changes to rent levels.
This is a massive victory for the tenants and I’m over the moon that they’ve made managed what seemed like an insurmountable challenge. If you’re interested in finding out more about Living Rent or in joining the very active local Govan/Ibrox Branch - you can get all the info on their website.
Govan CC Public Meeting
Govan Community Council are holding their summer public meeting next Wednesday at 7pm at the Pearce Institute.
The topic is “Govan needs decent housing, shops and public services” with speakers being local business owner Pat Cassidy (of Govan Workspace) and local community development manager Ruby Kelly (of Maslows).
These are always really interesting meetings with good discussion and debate and normally gives us politicians some actions to go and work on. It’s a free, open, public meeting so just rock up if you’re interested!
Scottish Green Party Selections for Holyrood
Any keen observers of the Scottish Green Party will have noticed that we’re in the process of selecting our candidates for next years Scottish Parliament election. I’ve had a few people catch me in the street and at meetings to ask if my hat is in the ring so I thought it’d be crystal clear.
While the tripling of my salary and having my own staff might seem appealing, I enjoy being in Govan too much to spend most of my week travelling through to Edinburgh so I won’t be on the ballot paper next year. You will of course have a delightful Green on the ballot, but it won’t be me!
Surgeries
I run advice and support surgeries 3 times a month, you don’t need an appointment, just turn up! Next dates are:
Thursday 19th June - 5pm - Kinning Park Complex, Cornwall Street
Friday 27th June - 11am - Clyde Community Hall, Whitefield Road
Tuesday 12th August - 4pm - Maslow’s Community Hub, Shaw Street
Upcoming Community Councils
Drumoyne - Govan High - 19th June - 7pm
Govan - Pearce Institute - 7th July - 7pm
Govan East - Riverside Hall - 19th August - 6pm
Ibrox and Cessnock - Clyde Community Hall - 20th August - 7pm
Kinning Park - Kinning Park Complex - 20th September - 7pm
These are all public meetings so you can just turn up at your relevant one. They’d all be very happy for someone new to join in! I’m aim to attend at many of them as possible so hopefully see you there!
As always - any problems you want to raise - my e-mails always open at dan.hutchison@glasgow.gov.uk