Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, external convener Jim Eadie says the committee backs the general principles of the bill. 

Mr Eadie says the removal of the no fault ground, means landlords will have to provide one of the 16 reasons in the bill for if they wish to end a tenancy.

The SNP MSP says the first tier tribunal will ensure tenants have a tenancy agreement and will hear complaints about unfair evictions.

He says the committee asked about what support and legal advice was available to tenants coming to the tribunal.

Private landlords have called on the Scottish government to alter its plans to modernise the law on tenancies.

Members of the Scottish Association of Landlords (Sal) said a bill before Holyrood would make it harder to tackle anti-social behaviour. 

They claimed it would end their right to allow a tenancy to come to a natural end. 

The government said the bill would make tenancies better regulated which would safeguard both tenants and landlords. 

Letting agents argued it was vital that anti-social tenants could be easily moved from their property. 

The government's Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill would mean they could only be removed after official complaints were made to police, with witnesses willing to give evidence to a tribunal. 

Ms Burgess says the government is proposing an open ended tenancy that will apply to all tenants in the sector.

She says landlords will still be able to advertise their property well in advance if a tenant has given notice.

The housing minister says the government has carefully developed this policy to make sure the balance is right.

The SNP MSP says she thinks the government has got the balance right. 

Ms Burgess says the bill is backed by Crisis, external and Shelter, external. 

Image source, Crisis

The housing minister says when a landlord brings a tenancy to an end and it is disputed, it will be referred to the first tier tribunal.  

Image source, Shelter

Evidence will need to be provided by a landlord, says Ms Burgess.

She says sanctions will apply if a landlord misleads a tenant to leave their home or misleads a first tier tribunal. 

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess says the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill will create a clearer and fairer tenancy regime. 

Ms Burgess says she bill's main purpose is to create a private residential tenancy with improved stability and rent predictability, with proper safeguards.

The housing minister says the government has already clarified aspects of tenancies.

She says the new tenancy will be an open ended tenancy. 

• A more streamlined system with no confusing pre-tenancy notices, modernised grounds for repossession and easier-to-understand tenancy agreements

• Legislation which will mean tenants can no longer be asked to leave their home simply because the tenancy has reached its end date 
• Landlords will have modern protection for repossessing their property, such as intention to sell or move in themselves 

Image source, Getty Images

• Rent increases limited to only one per year, with three months' notice - designed so tenants will have advance notice of changes, and can budget accordingly 
• The opportunity for local authorities to implement rent controls in areas where there are excessive increases in rents and a concern about the impact this is having on tenants and the wider housing system 
• More progressive repossession grounds for rent arrears cases, as well as new repossession grounds introduced for landlords where they want to sell their property or the tenant has abandoned the property 

New laws which are intended to protect the country's 700,000 private sector tenants from rogue landlords were unveiled by the Scottish government last October. 

The Private Housing (Tenancies) Bill will offer protection against the threat of unfair eviction and big rent increases. 

Image source, Google

A growing number of people are renting private properties. 

But the Scottish Association of Landlords claimed the bill it could drive some landlords out of the market. 

First up this afternoon Housing Minister Margaret Burgess leads a debate calling for approval of the general principles of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill, external.

This will be followed by the members' debate entitled Celebrating the Success of Scotland's Young People and Youth Work led by Children and Young People Minister Aileen Campbell.  

That concludes the debate on the UK Immigration Bill.

We'll be back from 2.30pm with coverage of the 

The afternoon session in the chamber begins with the Stage 1 debate on the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill.

Image source, YouthLink Scotland

The Scottish government will then lead a debate celebrating the success of Scotland’s young people and youth work.  

Mr Yousaf says people with a foreign sounding name may be discriminated against by landlords as a result of this legislation.

The Europe and international development minister says everyone wants a fair asylum system, but the current system is not fair. 

Image source, AFP/Marina Militare

The SNP MSP says if anything, this Immigration Bill will make the system more unfair.

He says the purpose of the bill is not to improve the life of immigrants.

It will create a more hostile bill for the vulnerable, says the minister.

A Syrian refugee family who arrived in Scotland before Christmas have spoken exclusively to the BBC about the suffering they fled - and thanked their new community for the warm welcome they have received.

Mosaab, his wife Nada and their three children are getting used to life in Scotland.

They are among hundreds of Syrian people who fled the war and have started new lives with refugee status.

The BBC has agreed not to use their surnames because they fear speaking out may put their family members still in Syria at risk.

Mosaab was a tiler and self-employed lorry driver in Syria. Before the war, he says life was good, living together in peace. They would take trips to the coast and go to the countryside to pick olives straight from the tree.

"I lost friends in the war, our house was destroyed and I was fleeing from place to place looking for a shelter, " he says.  

Europe and International Development Minister Humza Yousaf says there seems to be, by this UK government, an undue focus on regular migration.

It completely ignores the contribution of migrants and there seems to be an obsession with immigrants, who are blamed for everything.

"Immigrants have made an incredible contribution to this country."

Mr Yousaf says many of the proposals in the Immigration Bill touch on devolved areas and the Scottish government has written to the UK government about this four times.

Labour MSP Hanzala Malik says the UK government's Immigration Bill is a very problematic piece of legislation on many levels.

Mr Malik says if the bill is extended to Scotland it would undermine this country's tenancy legislation.

He says bad legislation and poor enforcement can be more harmful than good.

The Labour MSP says we need an immigration system to help manage skills shortages across the UK and he says he is in favour of the points system.

Mr Malik says this bill needs to be defeated in the UK parliament.

SNP MSP Sandra White says removal of the first tier appeal means desolation is almost guaranteed.

Ms White says many of those who have had their appeals overturned work and run businesses in Scotland. 

"They are great citizens", she says.

The SNP MSP says these people would "have been lost" to Scotland had their appeals not been overturned. 

The Conservative MSP says the bill creates four offences to target rogue landlords or agents.

Mr McGrigor concludes by saying getting a fair immigration system is a big challenge.

The Tory MSP says the Immigration Bill is part of the work to achieve this and it is proportionate and practical.

Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor says he thinks Christian Allard is "talking nonsense".

Mr McGrigor says the Conservative government was elected to sort out the chaos of the immigration system.

He says the bill intends to tackle illegal working, to ensure only lawful migrants can access services and to make it easier to remove illegal migrants. 

The Tory MSP says migrant workers may find themselves working in dangerous conditions and this legislation will help address this.

A bill to tackle illegal immigration has cleared its first parliamentary hurdle, despite opposition from Labour, Lib Dem and SNP MPs. 

MPs voted to give the Immigration Bill a second reading by a margin of 49, after Labour's bid to block it was rejected by 40 votes. 

It proposes a new offence of illegal working and requires landlords to carry out checks on prospective tenants. 

The plans now face detailed committee-stage scrutiny from MPs. 

Home Secretary Theresa May said the measures embodied in the bill would mean "greater fairness to British citizens and legitimate migrants". 

Its objective, she told MPs, was to protect those who "play by the rules". 

But her Labour counterpart, Andy Burnham, branded the bill "unpleasant and insidious". 

The shadow home secretary said it was "driven by a desire to generate headlines" and would do nothing to bring the government closer to its target of reducing net migration from more than 300,000 currently to the tens of thousands.  

Mr Macintosh says this bill could effectively give people traffickers more control over their victims.

The Labour MSP says it is not compatible with our commitment to human rights.

The legislation will be open to challenge due to its discriminatory impact, he says.

Mr Macintosh calls for the Immigration Bill to be withdrawn by the UK government. 

Labour MSP Ken Macintosh says the bill will be damaging to our communities and damaging to immigrants.

Mr Macintosh says he agrees with Christian Allard about the UK Immigration Bill and says Labour is firmly against the legislation.

He says the legislation risks potential harm to families already in a vulnerable position.

Mr Macintosh says the bill introduces a new right of eviction stemming from the Home Office.

Mr Allard says he is asking the parliament to unite to prevent the extension of this legislation to Scotland.

"I am an immigrant, proud to be one of the new Scots contributing to this country."

Institutionalised racism cannot come back to this country, he concludes.