One of the largest lettings portals in Scotland has warned within a new report that the SNP’s continued efforts to introduce tougher rent controls will have a ‘disastrous’ impact on an already struggling private rented sector.

Edinburgh-based Citylets says rents continue to rise across Scotland as the supply of privately rental properties is squeezed.

Its MD Thomas Ashdown (main image) is conerned that the SNP, now that its power-sharing agreement with the Greens is over and the party’s popularity at an all-time low, will be unwilling to U-turn on rent controls in a bid to win votes among renters.

Lower supply

This comes despite a recent IEA report revealing that most rent controls schemes wherever introduced lower the number and quality of homes for rent.

“It is unlikely that the authoritative and independent economic findings on rent controls across nations has been overlooked by the administration which begs the question as to why there has been no clear response,” he says.

“Perhaps vote-winning soundbite politics is deemed paramount with ‘rent control’ such an obvious winner, but what is the point of retaining power if it comes at a cost to those it purports to serve?

“We have a housing emergency. There is an absolute duty to the people of Scotland that good intentions do not make things worse. To that end there must be clear, immediate open engagement with the facts from independent industry experts.”

Citylets also points out that the annual figures from the Scottish Household Survey show declining supply and that rent controls, however well intended, have “deterred landlords big and small from entering or remaining in the sector” says CityLets spokesperson Gilliam Semmler (pictured).

But Scotland’s tenants’ union, Living Rent, has been vocal in its support of the SNP’s Housing (Scotland) Bill in recent weeks, saying: “Landlords cannot be trusted to regulate themselves - not with deposits, not with repairs, not with rents. We need strong rent controls to bring rents down”.