Rent control areas with capped costs for tenants proposed under new Bill

The Government’s Housing Bill will allow Scottish ministers to create rent control areas – capping costs for tenants.

Published on Wednesday, the Housing (Scotland) Bill will place a duty on local councils to carry out assessments within their areas on the state of the private rented sector, making recommendations to ministers about the imposition of rent controls.

The Bill – which comes against the backdrop of four local authorities declaring a housing emergency – does not specify particular controls which could be placed on landlords, but it does state rises would be capped during and in between tenancies.

Recommendations will go to ministers before being approved by Holyrood through secondary legislation.

The Bill, if passed, would also place a duty on the first-tier tribunal and the sheriff court to consider the timing of any notice to evict, to ensure tenants are not asked to leave their home to “reduce, as far as possible, the negative impact of eviction at a time of greater stress resulting from additional pressures or individual circumstances”, according to documents published alongside the legislation.

Tenants’ rights minister Patrick Harvie said: “A fairer, well-regulated rented sector is good for both tenants and landlords.

“Tenants benefit from improved conditions and security, while good responsible landlords will thrive when their good practice is recognised by regulation.

“Scotland has led the way across the UK in improving the experience of people who rent their homes and this reform has been at the same time as significant growth in the size of the private rented sector.

“Progressive reform can lead to better conditions and a healthy rented sector overall. I want to keep working with both tenants and landlords to achieve that goal.”

But the Scottish Association of Landlords said the Bill will “do nothing” to improve the private rented sector for tenants or landlords.

Its chief executive John Blackwood said: “The rent control proposals, as has been seen in places like Ireland which has similar measures, will see reduced investment and more landlords leaving the sector, leading to higher costs for tenants.

“The effects of Scottish Government policies in the private rented sector are already being felt, with rising costs reducing supply and placing more pressure on council and housing association properties that they are struggling to cope with.”

Landlords, he added, are pushing for more social housing and owner-occupier homes to be built, along with encouragement in investment into the private rented sector.

Tenants’ union Living Rent welcomed the proposals in the Bill, claiming renters are currently being “pushed to the edge by unaffordable rents”.

Its secretary Aditi Jehangir said: “If passed, these will have a huge impact on tenants’ lives, ensuring that we have homes that we can actually call ours.

“But we know the landlord lobby will try to water down the Bill at every step.

“Our representatives need to stand up for tenants and bring in robust rent controls that both improve housing quality and ensure homes in Scotland are affordable.”

As well as changes to the private rental sector, the Bill proposes duties on public authorities – including councils, the police and the health service – to ensure people do not become homeless.

Through what is described as an “ask and act” approach, public bodies will be required to inquire about the housing circumstances of those they interact with and provide support or refer them to their local authority, which will be required to act six months before homelessness is imminent, instead of the current two months.

The Bill would also update the definition of domestic abuse in current housing legislation and force social landlords to devise a policy to support tenants at risk of homelessness because of abuse.

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “Early action, through the kinds of measures included in the Housing Bill, results in fewer people reaching the point of housing crisis.

“It also means people facing homelessness have more choice and control over where they live, helping them to maintain relationships in their community and stay in work.”

Homelessness charity Crisis has welcomed the proposals, but said they should be backed by sufficient funding.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “We strongly welcome publication of the Housing Bill, and confirmation the new legislation will include measures to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.

“If implemented properly, these plans hold the potential to create a truly world-leading homelessness system, but to be effective they need to be properly resourced.”

Scottish Labour, however, described the proposals as “half-baked”.

Housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: “This Bill exposes the fact that the SNP Government has no clear plan to tackle the housing crisis and homelessness in Scotland after 17 years of failure and decline.

“It is nothing short of a shocking failure of the most vulnerable in our society.

“The Bill does not offer enough to tackle homelessness, is slow to help renters, and has done nothing to properly encourage affordable home building.”

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