The measures, aimed at protecting renters during the cost of living crisis, will come into effect immediately across both the private and social rented sectors and are expected to last until at least March 31 next year. The Welsh Government could follow suit with rent controls, which are currently being investigated. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for similar policies in the capital. John Blackwood, of the Scottish Landlords’ Association, said he was “surprised and shocked” by the Scottish Government’s decision to “kick landlords in the teeth in this way”. He said: “We’ve been absolutely inundated with landlords coming to us saying, ‘I’ve got a vacant property and now as a result of this announcement, I’m taking it off the rental market and intend to sell it, or keep it vacant and maybe sell it later.’ He said rents are rising because of a housing shortage, with demand far outstripping supply. Rents rose by 12.3% in the year to July, with the average tenant paying £824 a month, according to Hamptons estate agency. Mr Blackwood said: “We have a housing crisis in Scotland. We already don’t have enough accommodation to accommodate people, and this is only going to make it worse.” He added that landlords can’t afford to take in tenants who end up defaulting on rent if they don’t have the means to evict them.
“I will sell and invest elsewhere”
Janet Carnochan, 49, from Dumfries and Galloway, rents six properties in Scotland with her husband. He said if any of them become vacant in the coming months, he will sell. “I was sympathetic to my tenants during Covid and didn’t raise the rents at that point,” he said. “Before then interest rates were historically low, so I haven’t raised my rents in a long time. With inflation and debt service costs rising, I will have to look at rent increases because mine are now below market rents.” She said she and her husband have been “hammered” by the tax increases. “If this continues, I will look to sell and invest in other things to fund my future retirement,” he added. “With the cost of living for ourselves, everything in our lives goes up. But now we’re at the stage where we can get less and less out of the business and all we’re doing is breaking even.”
“The government is restricting our fundamental rights”
Mark Smith, who spoke using a pseudonym, is in his 50s and from central Scotland. He is a longtime owner who owns over a dozen investment properties. It is considering canceling several more property purchases and may stop investing in other homes as a result of the Scottish Government’s rent freeze announcement. “We have an ethical portfolio where we try to keep rents at a very reasonable level. we are not greedy. We try to help our tenants,” he said. “For example, last month someone was unable to pay their bills, so we waived the cost for several weeks so they could pay. “If you have tenants with difficulties, you work with them – that’s the sensible, long-term thing to do. You don’t raise rents dramatically. You just don’t do that because it’s not a good job.” But both the Scottish Government and Westminster crackdowns on buy-to-let landlords have limited the ability of investors to operate. In Scotland, the equivalent of Article 21, which bans no-fault evictions, was repealed in 2017. In England and Wales this move was on the table under former prime minister Boris Johnson. Landlords have argued that this makes it much more difficult to evict tenants when they need to sell the property. There is now an eviction ban in Scotland. He added: “The buying and selling of our own property, which we have always believed to be a fundamental right, can now be restricted by the government in a way that I believe has never been done before in this country. “For me, it’s a simple decision. It is an investment vehicle. And so if there’s no return on that investment, you have to go with a different market or product.”
