Scotland’s rent cap disaster – a warning to landlords and tenant groups everywhere

Reply to the comment left by Stella at 01/12/2023 - 16:55
Help make their majority even smaller, vote Reform. Most people I know are going from Tory to Reform just get a point across. Labour/Tory nothing between them now, they've all lost the plot. If Reform got enough seats they could really hold a lot of power, they wouldn't need to many as I think T/L will be very close.

Reply to the comment left by john thompson at 01/12/2023 - 13:26
Thank you.

I can't complain about my BTL journey over the past 25 years. Having London property did well for me, and I sold out when S24 loomed large, and I was on a decent salary with a massive BTL mortgage. But the final nail was my experience during lockdown, and how the system let me down at great cost to me, physically, mentally, and financially.

I went from being overly caring and considerate towards my tenants, to wanting to be rid of them ASAP and increasing rent as much and as often as I can. I am ashamed of myself for feeling this way, but that's what this government has done, and the next rabble will be worse.

Reply to the comment left by Dennis Leverett at 01/12/2023 - 17:06
The Libdems did it in 2010,ans forced through a lot of policies which the Tories would jot have done but for them in coalition. Reform could do the same if we all vote for them, especially in the red wall seats. Nigel Farage needs to be back in the game!

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 01/12/2023 - 17:42
I would not feel bad with having to do whatever you can to keep sane and scrape something out for your financial wellbeing. We have all been vilified and dumped on by the government, shelter, and bad tennants, while most of us provide decent accommodation and service. They can't keep punnishing us and not expect a backlash, it serves them right.

I am glad after your hard work you did well for your for a while out of the prs,
I guess all good things come to an end, and this ludicrous Con government has certainly put the nail in the coffin of so many businesses.

I've not been so lucky.
I saved for years to get a rental property around 2020 with good intentions of providing a decent home and making some profit in the future. Not long after the s**t hit the fan with covid and then cons introducing ever more destructive reforms and tax grabs.
I spen alot on referbing the rental and have only just started bringing in a profit, but with my mortgage rates increasing, taxes, maintenance and everything there is very little profit for all the time and money I've invested.

Still lam lucky I've now got good and happy tennants, hopefully they will stay till house prices increase in the future and I can sell up with a decent return and get out of this lame and toxic minefield of a business.

Double council tax for second homes? I wonder how this will affect those whose second home is abroad, or those who live abroad, but whose second home is in Scotland. Would it matter if one house was in England, and another in Scotland? How will they decide which is the main home, and which is the second home? Or couples, who have their main home in one name, and the other home in their partner's name. What happens when two single home owners decide to get married, but keep both houses.
Double council tax would run a very real risk of running contrary to the Equalities Act, in that people who are nationals of foreign countries could well be taxed differently to Scottish Nationals, and people getting married would also suddenly fall foul of increased taxes.

I wrote to my MSP about the proposed rent controls for new tenancies this is the reply I received:

Thank you for your email. I appreciate your concern with the New Deal for Tenants proposals and the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act, which introduced a temporary eviction moratorium and rent cap.

The Landlord and tenant engagement questionnaire on rented sector reform consultation remains open, and if you have not already done so I would suggest you complete the questionnaire here. As the consultation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate for me to comment, however, this is an essential part of the policymaking process as it provides an opportunity to consider public opinion and expertise on a proposed area of work.

With this in mind, I will share the relevant information on the safeguards for landlords included in the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act, which may be useful for you.

The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act, including the private rent cap, and additional eviction protections, were introduced to combat the unprecedented cost of living crisis, following months of inaction from the UK Government. While the Scottish Government does not have the powers to prevent people’s energy bills from soaring, it can take action to ensure that their rents do not increase. This emergency legislation ensured this was done in a way that is legally robust, with the right safeguards for landlords in place.

Under the legislation, landlords are still able to sell their property depending on their intentions and/or financial situation. The landlord can sell the property with the ‘sitting tenant’ in situ, meaning they can sell the property without evicting the tenant and the new owner will take over their obligations as landlord. This option can be discussed with an estate agent.

Additionally, if the landlord is in financial difficulty and at risk of homelessness, they can begin evictions proceedings under one of the exemptions in the legislation (i.e. ‘Intent to sell property to alleviate financial hardship’). Financial hardship of a private landlord would then be assessed by the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber), who would consider all relevant information about the landlord’s finances, and decide whether it is reasonable to evict in this case.

More information on the safeguards for landlords can be found here.

I hope the above information is useful.

Reply to the comment left by john thompson at 02/12/2023 - 11:44
I wish you every success.

Reply to the comment left by Stella at 01/12/2023 - 16:55
Their majority will be smaller, but we've just seen massive majorities disappear, and Reform helped make that happen.

Keep harassing and targeting landlords!

I'm loving it! Price for a studio flat in zone 2 London is around £1700 😀

Next year, I'll increase it to £1800....with all the rising costs and other licensing cr@p....only way to fight is to increase rent and that's what i will be doing.

Reply to the comment left by Trisha at 01/12/2023 - 10:45
"The lunatics are really running the asylum ", in to the ground.