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Scottish government seeks views on long-term rent controls
The Scottish government is seeking views from social and private sector landlords on its policy of long-term rent controls.
Tenants and landlords have been invited to respond to a questionnaire that explores whether rent controls should be imposed on a local basis, where assessment shows there is a need, or whether rent control should be universally applied across Scotland.
The questionnaire also asks if property let at lower social rents should be exempt from rent controls.
Short-term rent controls have been in place in Scotland since September 2022 as an emergency cost of living measure, but the SNP/Green coalition has committed to introducing a permanent policy.
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Under the proposals, Scottish ministers would be able to designate a rent control area if they believe it is necessary to protect the social and economic interests of tenants.
When a rent control area is introduced, Scottish ministers would be able to set a limit on how much rents can increase in that area. The proposed approach is that the limit on how much rents can increase would apply both to rent increases within a tenancy and rent increases between tenancies.
If rent controls apply both within a tenancy and between tenancies, then the proposal is that rent increases would be limited to once per year per property, irrespective of whether the tenant changes.
There are some new tenancies where it may be difficult to determine what the previous tenant’s rent was or there may be circumstances where there is no previous tenancy to compare.
The proposal is to exempt ‘new to market’ tenancies from rent controls when they are first entered into, enabling the rent for that tenancy to be set at open market level. Rent controls would then apply to the tenancy and any future tenancy of that property while the rent control area is in effect.
The questionnaire also asks whether rent control areas should last for only a fixed amount of time and how long that time period should be.
Exemptions are also being considered that would allow landlords to raise the rent above the rent cap, on a case-by-case basis, when there have been improvements to the let property.
The questionnaire closes on 27 October.
