Green Party politicians sitting in the Scottish Parliament have urged their colleagues in all parties to back plans for immediate private rent control measures to protect tenants from what the party calls “brutal hikes.”
Green MSPs have tabled as an amendment for the upcoming Scottish Parliament debate on the Housing Bill, which would provide immediate rent controls – even before other measures in the Bill can take effect.
Back in 2022 the controversial Patrick Harvie – then housing minister in the SNP/Green alliance ruling the Scottish Parliament – introduced a temporary cap on most in-tenancy rent increases. Since the end of the cap in March 2024, there had been a temporary rent adjudication system in place, also introduced by Harvie. This potentially allowed rent increases to be limited to no higher than 12% if a tenant applied to a rent officer for a decision.
After a split with the Green Party, the SNP chose to end that system in April this year. The Greens say this put tenants across Scotland “at the mercy of a broken housing market.”
Since then the Greens and an activist group called Living Rent have claimed “cases of renters facing huge hikes far and beyond market rate, with some landlords proposing above 30% rent increases, and some up to 88%.”
Green MSP Maggie Chapman, who will be introducing the amendment in the Scottish Parliament, says: “We warned the Scottish Government that removing protections would result in renters being punished and exploited by rogue landlords, and that is what has happened.
“The Housing Bill will provide some badly needed protections and rent controls when it comes into force, but there are a lot of people who can’t afford to wait. We will be introducing amendments to restore protections immediately and halt the astronomical hikes that are being forced on people and families all over Scotland.
“The rental market is broken and already leaves far too many renters in insecure housing which can cost them over half their pay cheque. We need to end the exploitation and curb the powers of the landlord lobby who are only too happy to profit from so much misery.
“The Scottish Government says it is committed to long-term rent controls, but if this is the case, why are they giving landlords the opportunity to hike rents in advance of the controls coming into place?
“I hope that MSPs from all parties will support their constituents and back our plans to provide immediate protections so that we can finally begin to cut costs and provide the stability and peace of mind that so many are desperate for.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today