A SCOTTISH Labour MSP makes an estimated £60,000 a year from renting two private lets and two commercial properties, it has been revealed.
Irshad Ahmed, regional MSP for Edinburgh and the Lothians East, owns two properties in the area he represents, which give him a potential rental income of £20,000 a year.
He also owns two commercial properties in the area, which give him an estimated income of around £40,000 a year.
The details were published in Ahmed’s register of interests on the Scottish Parliament website last week.
The MSP previously stood as a candidate for the SNP and Alba. Last year, he refused to say whether he still supports independence. After defecting to Alba under Alex Salmond’s leadership, he called on Scots to back an effort to secure a “super majority” for independence at the 2021 Holyrood election.
We told how a row erupted after Ahmed was selected to contest the Edinburgh North Western seat for Anas Sarwar’s party, winning a contest 20-19. He was ranked first on the party’s regional list for the Edinburgh and Lothians.
Ahmed came in for criticism after he was elected when it was claimed that in a speech at a Pakistani cultural centre in January 2024, he said he would pray that Israel would “get a crushing defeat”, according to a translation from Urdu by The Telegraph.
Scottish Labour ignored calls to suspend him from the party whip. In Holyrood, Scottish Labour are currently tied with Reform UK in opposition, with both parties having 17 MSPs.
In 2023, City of Edinburgh Council declared a housing emergency, with councillors citing the city’s record homelessness figures along with a severe shortage of social rented homes and sky-high private rental costs. Edinburgh was the first city council in Scotland to formally declare a housing emergency.
Ahmed’s register states that he owns a flat and a house in Edinburgh and Lothians East.
The flat has a market value of between £200,001 and £250,000 “with gross rental income of between £5001 and £10,000 per annum”.
The house in the same area has a market value of between £150,001 and £200,000 and generates the same amount of income a year as his flat.
He also owns two commercial properties that generate rental income. One, valued between £50,001 and £100,000, generates a rental income between £10,001 and £15,000 a year.
The second has a market value between £300,001 and £400,000, bringing in rent between £20,001 and £25,000 a year.
At the lower end of the scale, Ahmed makes £10,000 from renting the two private rental properties and £30,000 from two commercial rental properties.
At the higher end is £20,000 from private rental properties and £40,000 from commercial rental properties, totalling £60,000.
Gordon Maloney, chair of Living Rent Edinburgh, said the revelations are another example of an MSP “being totally out of touch with the realities of their constituents”.
“Renting out two lets and two commercial properties while Scotland is in the middle of a housing crisis is appalling behaviour,” Maloney added.
“Earning more from renting out his properties than many households earn in a year is wrong, especially considering his generous MSP salary.”
MSPs are currently paid £77,711 each year.
Maloney pointed out that in Edinburgh, the area Ahmed represents, rents have increased by more than 104% in the past 15 years.
“A fifth of children live in poverty and 25,000 people are stuck on social housing waiting lists,” he added.
“Raking in so much money while hundreds of thousands of tenants are struggling to put food on the table, let alone afford rent, is appalling. How can Ahmed claim to represent the best interests of tenants when it is in his interest to charge as much as he can for his flats?
“Our parliament should not be riddled with landlords. This government needs to commit to a rent freeze and take concerted action that puts food on the table and keeps money in people’s pockets."
Scottish Labour have been contacted for comment.
