Plans for permanent rent controls in Scotland have moved forward amid further uncertainty.
Scotland’s housebuilding industry said more than £3 billion worth of new homes including one of the largest city centre developments for decades had been stalled as a result of the proposals which have been described as “reckless”.
As the Housing (Scotland) Bill moves through the Scottish Parliament, it was pushed onto centre stage at Holyrood’s showcase this week.
First Minister’s Questions brought some exchanges on rent caps, a measure hailed by many including tenants' union Living Rent and accepted as workable in the right format by industry lobbyists like More Homes More Quickly, but criticised as lacking clarity.
They include the redevelopment of the landmark site of a former Royal Bank of Scotland office complex in Edinburgh, which is now undergoing a fresh planning journey with a partial change to student housing at the New Town site.
At FMQs, exchanges were led by North East Scotland Green MSP Maggie Chapman who asked why the Scottish Government is “now seeking to remove the power for councils to implement their own local rent freezes during times of spiralling prices and rents, which would help them tackle homelessness?”.
John Swinney, First Minister, said that the “reason why we have resolved to propose a change to the contents of the Bill at stage two is to ensure that we can put certainty into the market so that we can attract further private investment in the housing stock of Scotland to enable us to tackle the housing emergency that our country faces”.
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Emma Roddick, SNP Highlands and Islands MSP, said she hosted a briefing “debunking some myths around rent controls and highlighting that 82 per cent of Scots back this Scottish National Party policy, which has the potential to have a positive impact on the economy as well as on tenants’ finances”.
Mr Swinney said: “The government has listened to tenants, landlords and those who have invested in rented homes, and has acted to deliver the clarity that they have been calling for.
“The approach that we have announced of limiting rent increase to CPI (Consumer Price Index) plus one per cent up to a maximum of six per cent where rent controls apply ensures protections for tenants from large rent increases and supports essential investment that maintains the quality and supply of homes for private rent.”
Meghan Gallacher, Central Scotland Conservative MSP, said that industry body Homes for Scotland "has warned that the SNP’s proposed changes to housing legislation will increase the cost of a new home by £30,000 through changes to rent controls", adding: “Previous changes to the rent cap stalled £3.2 billion-worth of housing development.
“Reckless rent controls are not just driving away investment; they are harming our economy. With the SNP miles off from meeting its 110,000 affordable homes target, why is the government failing to tackle the housing emergency, and why is the Parliament considering a Housing Bill that does not build a single home?”
Mr Swinney said that “if Meghan Gallacher wants homes to be built, I suggest that she encourages her colleagues to vote for the government’s budget, because it is the budget that gets homes built”.
Certainly questions, and hopefully answers also at some point.
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