-
14/7/25 8:13 pm
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Scottish politicians across the divide have lamented the lack of younger landlords coming into the PRS and called for the sector to be given more respect.
During a political party debate at the Scottish Association of Landlord’s (SAL) recent annual Scottish Letting Day conference, former minister for housing, the SNP’s Paul McLennan, admitted the PRS had an aging population. “We want people coming into the sector in their 20s and 30s – we all need to do more.”
Meghan Gallacher, MSP Scottish Conservatives housing spokesperson, agreed that she wasn’t seeing more people take on the responsibility of being a landlord, particularly the younger generation.
Reform councillor for Clydesdale South, Ross Lambie, believed landlords felt targeted and perceived as “scoundrels”. He added: “We see landlords as SMEs and the bedrock of the economy but unlike other SMEs they are targeted with tax and being licensed as if they they’ve got a ‘business ASBO’.”
SLA CEO John Blackwood said landlords needed to be treated as businesspeople because tenants were their consumers. However, most individual landlords were not big business.
“Parties need to be open and honest with us, they need to say, ‘we value you and need you and we will encourage you to continue doing what you’re doing’,” argued Blackwood. “But we’re not getting that message. As investors we choose to be in this sector – we need to be encouraged to do this - or are we just the pariahs of society that politicians want to get rid of?”
Gallacher believed the PRS was integral in solving the housing emergency but said there had been a lack of consultation at the early stage of the Housing Bill. She called for a pause in new housing laws. “It’s caused an upset and we’re embarking on too much,” she added. “Landlords shouldn’t be the guinea pigs when it comes to legislation.”
Tags:
Comments