Tenants in Scotland have been told to fight back against private landlords by urging MSPs to keep their commitment to robust rent controls.
Ruth Gilbert (main image, inset), national campaign chair of Living Rent, argues that landlords, letting agents and developers are trying to water down, delay and sabotage rent controls outlined in the Housing Bill.
“The constant barrage of criticism - combined with empty threats of a mass exodus of landlords - have pushed a pliant government into conceding to appease the market at the expense of tenants,” says Gilbert.
Writing in The Herald, she explains that robust, universal rent controls which can bring rents down could start to transform the housing system by making private rented accommodation more affordable and disincentivizing “exploitative landlordism”. “It’s important to state that forms of rent control seen in recent temporary measures have included too many loopholes for landlords to exploit,” she says.
The consultation on rent controls has laid bare the government’s intention to appease landlords by introducing significant exemptions, adds Gilbert, such as build-to-rent developments. While it has proposed a suite of amendments designed to encourage these developments, build-to-rent properties are expensive, and beyond the reach of most tenants.
“The bill, as introduced, already allows for above inflation rent increases, and so lobbyists’ greedy demands for more exposes a model that is more concerned with creating dividends for overseas investors than delivering on the needs of Scotland’s people.”
Mid-market properties - designated for tenants with low to middle incomes, who are unable to afford rents in the private sector and unable to access social housing – are also proposed for exemption. “This will see mid-market landlords able to increase rent however high they like with tenants left with no recourse to challenge it,” adds Gilbert.#
Pic credit: Living Rent/Ruth Gilbert
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