Scotland should have learned from its housing mistakes by now, according to a senior industry figure.
As part of our special series on rent controls, Robin Blacklock, the director of an organisation representing rented housing providers across Scotland called More Homes More Quickly, has offered his exclusive opinion, below.
"Einstein said 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result' but it doesn’t take a genius to work out where rent controls in Scotland have faltered.
"Rent Pressure Zones, introduced in Scotland in 2017, were meant to limit increases in high demand areas by capping increases at Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%. This was to protect tenants and keep rent rises in line with inflation and wage growth. However, despite these goals, not a single one of Scotland’s 32 local authorities has applied for an RPZ.
Robin Blacklock, director of More Homes More Quickly (Image: MHMQ)
"The main issue is not the law itself but with the lack of resources to make it work. While the RPZ framework is in place, there is no system to collect accurate rental data. The current data sources are flawed: they rely on advertised rents rather than actual rents paid, and don’t track increases during tenancies. Landlords aren’t required to report their data, and neither government nor local authority officials have the necessary tools or capacity to collect and analyse this information.
SPECIAL SERIES:
Part One: SNP housing law 'open to potential legal challenge'
Part Two: SNP rent controls exemplar was ‘unmitigated disaster’
New Scottish housing rent controls put forward by industry
"From 2017 to 2023, Citylets research shows (advertised) rents in Scotland increased by 49%, but the ONS assessment shows an increase in (all) rents of just 16%.
"CPI figures show underlying inflation at 26% for the period, meaning that on one measure rents are rising ‘excessively’, but on the other are below inflation.
"This lack of robust data makes it hard to monitor and manage rent increases.
"There are many problems with the Housing (Scotland) Bill, but the biggest is the failure to collect accurate data.
"If we don’t address this, we risk facing the same issues in another seven years.
"Fixing this data problem is crucial, otherwise we’ll keep making the same mistakes - and that would truly be insane."
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