SNP Ministers are pushing ahead with legislation to cap rents in spite of a backlash by landlords. The Government has backed plans for rent controls which would see bills increase by no more than 6%.
The Housing (Scotland) Bill is in its early stages and was the result of an earlier deal that took the Greens into power with the SNP. But the Greens were dumped from Government earlier this year, leaving the rent control plan in doubt.
Housing Minister Paul McLennan has confirmed the Government will lodge plans for a cap as a cost of living crisis measure.
This system would apply in areas that were given the go-ahead for rent controls. The cap would apply to rent increases during the term of a tenancy and in between tenancies.
McLennan said: “The Bill includes a package of reforms which will help ensure people have a safe, secure, and affordable place to live. Eradicating child poverty remains this government’s priority and having a home can make a direct contribution to achieving this. This is why ensuring families can have secure and affordable homes that meet their needs is part of our approach to tackling the housing emergency.
“Setting out the form of the rent cap in this way – with CPI as the basis – allows for a reflection of the costs to landlords of offering a property for rent whilst offering protection for tenants in terms of limiting more significant rent increases. We are bringing forward a system of rent control that works for Scotland – a system that supports stabilisation of rents for tenants, whilst ensuring there can be a balanced approach that provides appropriate protection for the property rights of landlords and supports investment in the development of rented homes.”
Green MSP Maggie Chapman said the plan had been watered down: “This is a shameful betrayal of tenants. It will impose above inflation rent hikes on households all over Scotland. Stabilising rents at unaffordable levels is no use to anyone, apart from profiteering landlords.
“If the SNP goes ahead with these disastrous plans they will be selling-out renters and entrenching a broken and unfair system. “These proposals do not tackle unaffordability and would not give tenants in the private rented sector the security or stability they’ve been promised. This is yet another example of an SNP government that is shedding its progressive credentials. Homes should be for living in, not for profiteering.”
Ruth Gilbert from the Living Rent trade union said: “It is welcome to have clarity today from the Scottish Government that rent controls will apply in between tenancies. Carrying over limits between tenancies is central to making rent controls work and reducing evictions, and we are glad that the government has listened to tenants on this point. However, setting a cap at above inflation – even by just 1% – will bake in above-inflation rent increases for tenants, and severely weakens the rent controls we so desperately need.”
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