Legislation could harm rural homes rental market

The supply of homes for rent – particularly in rural Scotland - could be irreparably damaged by new legislation currently being proposed by the Scottish Government, it has been claimed.

In a joint open letter, Scottish Land & Estates, the Scottish Association of Landlords and NFU Scotland have written to the administration expressing their fears that proposals on tenancies contained within the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill could lead to thousands of homes being removed from the rental market.

Writing ahead of a Stage 1 debate on the Bill in parliament next Thursday, the groups accused the Scottish Government of misusing Covid legislation to push through housing elements of the agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens, claiming that this route would avoid the full parliamentary scrutiny afforded to a Housing Bill.

SLE said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, all grounds for eviction of a tenant were temporarily made discretionary – but said that the new Bill sought to make this change permanent and a tribunal would be asked to rule every time a landlord attempted to remove a tenant and reclaim vacant possession.

The organisations said they understood that it would be easier to make temporary powers permanent than wait for separate bill - but said this smacked of ‘playing fast and loose’ with emergency legislation at a time when there was widespread concern about the government’s desire to retain emergency powers that were no longer needed.

“The government and committee’s suggestion that stopping these emergency measures would cause confusion is at best spurious and at worst deliberately dishonest,” said the signatories.

The groups claimed that, in effect, a tribunal would not have to automatically remove people, even where the tenant had failed to comply with the conditions set out in their tenancy agreement - including non-payment of rent.

“It would also be up to a tribunal to rule whether possession of a property could be regained in the case of a landlord wanting to live in the property, from a tenant who is no longer an employee or when the owner wishes to sell the property.”

The proposed changes in law would, claimed the groups, have an impact on all types of landlords – whether they owned a single property or multiple homes they let out and could lead to a substantial loss in the value of a property where a landlord could not regain vacant possession.

“Given increasing interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis, the need for rental properties is essential and any measure that is detrimental to the provision of rental properties needs very careful consideration.

“The impact on the housing supply appears to have either been dismissed or viewed as acceptable fallout to deliver the Minister Patrick Harvie’s continued attack on private landlords,” read the letter, which concluded with a call for Scottish Ministers to think again and take on board the genuine concerns of all those who not only owned and let properties but also tenants who needed a place to live.