Scottish government rent control proposals slammed by expert

The Scottish government’s recently launched consultation on a range of issues affecting the private rented sector (PRS), including rent controls and tenant eviction protections, has been slammed by one leading property expert.

Neil Cobbold, the managing director of automated rental payment specialists, PayProp UK, says the consultation being carried out, is ‘not fit for purpose’.

The consultation aims to gather views from tenants, landlords, letting agents and other stakeholders on how to improve the PRS in Scotland.

However, the consultation has also raised concerns among some industry experts, who claim that it does not allow for genuinely diverse perspectives within the PRS and that it could have negative consequences for landlords and tenants alike.

‘Consultation is not fit for purpose’

Mr Cobbold said: “This consultation while addressing some key issues within the Scottish rental sector, is not fit for purpose.

“It imposes choices on respondents, effectively forcing them to adopt one of the prescribed options, even if they have reservations or alternative ideas to propose.

“It’s a very restrictive approach that doesn’t truly reflect the complexity of the issues at hand.”

He added: “Ultimately, no matter what the overall response to the consultation is, it will be your MSP that will scrutinise, amend and ultimately vote on these measures. “

Introduce long-term rent controls

One of the main proposals in the consultation is to introduce long-term rent controls, which would apply to increases in rent that take place both during a tenancy and when the rent is set for a new tenant.

The consultation stakeholder paper states: “It is proposed that rent controls would apply to increases in rent that take place both during a tenancy and where the rent is set for a new tenant.”

It also states that the government is ‘considering whether it would be appropriate, in certain circumstances, to allow an increase in rent that is in excess of the rent cap’.

The government also acknowledges that ‘some landlords choose not to increase rents during the course of a tenancy, and instead prefer to increase rents between tenancies’.

‘Landlords may move to increasing rent during tenancies’

However, the paper makes clear that if rent controls apply both within and between tenancies, that ‘landlords may move to increasing rent during tenancies, [which] they would not have done before’ – with a promise to address this in future proposals.

Mr Cobbold says that if landlords are restricted in how much they can raise rents outside tenancies, this could encourage them to automatically apply the biggest rent increase they can during tenancies, raising rents for a greater number of tenants annually.

He also says that the consultation does not consider the impact of rent controls on the supply and quality of rental properties, as well as the incentives for landlords to invest in their properties.

However, the consultation does suggest that the Scottish government is considering a rent control exemption for build-to-rent providers, admitting that ‘some investors may see rent control as a deterrent to investment’.

Mr Cobbold says this will be perceived as unfair, as it could leave private landlords being restricted in how much they can raise rents whilst large-scale corporate property owners would be allowed to increase rents as they see fit.

Interested parties have until 27 October to respond to the Scottish government’s PRS consultation.

Share This Article