THIS week I was one of many MSPs who backed Shelter Scotland's campaign about the need to improve private rented housing.

It's an issue I've worked on for several years, most recently with my own campaign at http://rentrights.org/

Having spent well over a decade as a private tenant from my student days till my early 30s, I've seen both good and bad practice by landlords. Some took their role seriously, aimed to provide a high quality service and made every effort to build up good relationships with their tenants.

Others, frankly, just wanted to sit back and rake in the cash.

I was also harassed out of a flat by an abusive landlord and I know how vulnerable tenants can be at a time like that.

I was lucky, I was able to fall back on the support of family.

But abuse like that can leave someone homeless and it's vital that we make sure that the private rented sector acknowledges that the job of providing someone's home comes with big responsibilities. It's not just like any other commercial exchange.

That's all the more true when we consider the expansion of private renting.

It has doubled in scale over just the last 10 years and looks set to expand even further.

For huge numbers of people it's no longer a free choice; social housing is unavailable to them and owner occupation is unaffordable, so the private rented sector is simply the only housing society offers them.

That's particularly true of students and young people, but it covers large numbers of families too.

The Shelter campaign is calling for many of the things I've been arguing for - we need a new tenancy system that gives people stability and security to know that they can't simply be turfed out with no good reason, while still allowing landlords to deal fairly with problem tenants who refuse to pay their rent or who behave unacceptably to their neighbours.

AND we need a way of controlling rents, particularly in "hotspot" areas where rent prices have spiralled.

There is also a lot more we could do to improve the fabric of rented homes, such as energy efficiency standards which would save tenants' cash, as well as protecting their health and wellbeing.

Good landlords already do this but there are others who simply won't act on their own accord.

The Scottish Government is consulting on these issues now, and we expect to see a Bill next year, but it's important to encourage the Government to be bold and take meaningful action.

You can add your name to the Shelter campaign at http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/