One of Scotland’s foremost architects has delivered a scathing criticism of the Scottish Government’s housing law proposals.

The architect behind landmark city buildings and residential developments across Scotland described the SNP rent control policy as "disastrous" and "completely unforgivable".

Paul Stallan, director of Stallan-Brand, said that the Scottish Government is "failing to create an environment of hope, setting policies that are contradictory and limiting opportunity for both institutional MNEs [multinational enterprises] and SMEs [small to medium-sized enterprises]".

He said: "Take for example the Scottish Government’s disastrous rent cap housing policy that has redirected billions in build-to-rent development away from Scotland.

"It’s completely unforgivable. The fact that much of our rental sector is underpinned by pension money belonging to key workers like nurses seems not to be understood."

Mr Stallan set up the Glasgow-based business with Alistair Brand in 2012, and the two former RMJM staffers are responsible for a string of major landmark developments including the SWG3 venue and hotel in Glasgow and Union Terrace Gardens buildings in Aberdeen.

Stallan Brand is architect on the SWG3 'hotel for music lovers' (Image: Stallan-Brand)

In an article in Architecture Today bemoaning Scotland’s largest city’s crumbling buildings, he writes: "What has this got to do with derelict buildings in Glasgow, you may wonder?

"Incentivising the major social landlords to increase their rate of affordable housing delivery or directing the house builders to tackle city centre sites or leveraging global finance into the sector appears to be beyond administrative thinking.

"A lack of new city centre residential development directly impacts our historic fabric. Without cyclic renewal, adding new to the old, the old rots away because it exists in an abandoned context. Swathes of Glasgow remain derelict with house builders leapfrogging to the suburbs."

It comes after a Herald series highlighted concerns over the Housing (Scotland) proposals as well as benefits that rent controls could bring.

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Those within the industry have accounted for over developments covering 17,000 new built-to-rent homes that have been stalled since 2022 where developers have cited Scottish Government controls as a factor, and which could potentially be resumed.

Research by Rettie for the Scottish Property Federation tallied around £3.2 billion worth of build-to-rent developments that had been stalled, which it is claimed will rise to £4.5bn if unchecked.

A new group called More Home More Quickly, made up of senior figures across the housing industry, said that "rent controls can work, but they need a strong foundation of data and a framework that doesn't deter investment", and Living Rent, the tenants' union, said that "done well, they [rent controls] would bring down the price of rent, increase housing quality, and ensure people aren’t forced out of their homes by rising rents".

Ruth Gilbert, national campaigns chair for Living Rent, said that "strong, effective rent controls are a crucial part of the solution to Scotland's housing emergency".

The SNP administration has defended its plans to introduce permanent rent caps in Scotland, with Scottish Housing Minister Paul McLennan saying "our Housing Bill includes a package of important reforms to the rented sector, and we will continue to work with tenants, landlords and investors to ensure the measures in the Bill will support our vision for improving the supply and affordability of high-quality rented housing in Scotland".

Holyrood also points to Scottish Landlord Register data which shows the number of registered properties has increased by over 9,000 properties in the last two years, set against a reduction of the number of registered landlords of 1,000.