'Cost-of-living crisis has exposed the housing and energy system is broken and needs long-term fix'

Today, Liz Truss, the new UK Prime Minister is revealing her plan to help people with energy bills this winter.

Any measures that actually help will be welcome.

READ MORE:Rents and ScotRail fares to be frozen under new measures announced by Nicola Sturgeon

But the truth is the horse bolted long ago and is off and running, jumping freely over hedges and is in danger of disappearing over the horizon.

PA (Image: PA)

It is not just this year that housing and heating have been a problem. The difference just now is that more people are affected.

The scale of the problem facing people now can be seen by looking at average wages and prices.

In Glasgow, the average rent according to a recent survey by CityLets was £997 with a one bed home costing £744 and a two bed £1015 a month.

READ MORE:Private rents rise to £1000 in Glasgow a month amid calls for rent freeze

When the energy cap is raised in a few weeks time average energy bills are set to rise to £3500 or £291 a month.

Council tax for a Band C home in the city is £126 a month. Add in £13 for a TV licence and around £25 for broadband and the total household bills come to an average of £1452.

For a household on an income of, for example, £25,000 a year they have a take home pay of £1709 a month.

They would be left with £257 a month.

Rent and energy make up the bulk of that leaving around £250 a month for food, transport and other costs that everyone has.

This week Nicola Sturgeon revealed a rent freeze and rail fare freeze.

Most people in Glasgow use the bus and train is used mostly by people coming into the city from outside.

A bus ticket costs £56 for four weeks.

The freeze on rents and rail is only until March 2023.

Scotrail Fares are fixed until January already, so that is only a freeze for a few months.

The rent freeze again is simply a delay. Come April, unless further action is taken, tenants will likely see their rent rise.

The temporary freeze highlights the need for long term action.

It has to be action to ensure there is a supply of rental accommodation but at a cost that is affordable.

Landlords have already warned it will lead to a reduction in supply as many will remove their properties from the market.

This highlights the sad fact that some landlords, as many people suspect, are only interested in the profit they can make from renting out property.

There must be a role for the private rented market in the housing supply but landlords need to understand that as well as being an investment, they are providing a home for people and that comes with significant responsibilities.

READ MORE:Liz Truss and Keir Starmer clash on energy bills in her first Prime Ministers Questions

If a landlord is only interested in making a profit then perhaps they should reconsider if they are the right person for the role.

The need for providers to make ever more profit in all these sectors is leaving people unable to afford the basic essentials.

The purpose of energy providers should be to provide energy to meet the needs of people but the purpose looks to be profit.

For the oil and gas firms, they are making money out of this crisis, with additional profits running to well over £100bn.

The purpose of transport companies should be getting people from a to b but the purpose appears to be profit.

The purpose of a rented housing system should be to provide a home for everyone but the goal of profit or a return on investment is taking priority.

A balance between the rights of tenants and the financial interest of landlords needs to be achieved.

The current crisis has reached people on average earnings and will impact on most people who are witnessing an increase in the cost of almost everything they buy.

What is missing from the debate is the fact that in this city there are tens of thousands of people who are in a perpetual cost of living crisis.

When this is over those people will still be in a cost of living crisis.

The housing system did not work for too many people before this current crisis and the action needed is to ensure when we come out of it, it does.

The energy market works in the interest of the producers and providers not the rest of us, who use it, who have to put up with it.

Housing and heating are two of the basic needs of people.

To leave them both completely to market forces inevitably means people who are on the lowest incomes will find it unaffordable.

The UK Government needs to get a grip on the energy market.

The Scottish Government has to find a solution to the housing crisis here in our cities and towns.

Millions of people are counting on them.