The Scottish Government Rental Reforms Impact the Letting Sector

In the last three months, sales of rental property have been five times that of purchases of property by landlords. Recent findings from the National Landlords Association (NLA) have shown that almost a quarter (24%) of landlords with properties in Scotland have sold between April and June 2018, but only 5% have purchased new properties.

This dramatic difference has become apparent only four months after the Scottish Private Residential Tenancy was introduced in December 2017. The reforms were designed to improve stability, predictability and security for tenants as well as provide appropriate protections for landlords, investors and lenders. However, the NLA has concerns that that up to 45,000 landlords or approximately 67,000 rental properties could be negatively affected by the changes. NLA chief executive officer, Richard Lambert said:

‘The Scottish Private Residential Tenancy system removes the flexibility of the sector to meet the varied needs of an ever changing population of renters, in particular students and those who only seek short term tenancies, such as during the Edinburgh Festival,’

‘Because student landlords now have to provide indefinite tenancies, they won’t be able to advertise their properties for the Festival, as they won’t know for certain if they will be free and available by the end of July. If this sets a trend, and artists struggle to find short term accommodation, the 2018 Edinburgh Festival could be the last to offer such a variety of talent,’

This increased level of divestment in rented property is concerning for the Scottish Government says the NLA. The association has asked that the UK government pay close attention when consulting on similar rental reforms in England and Wales.

‘The last quarter has seen the highest proportion of landlords selling properties in Scotland in any three month period since the Government first announced their tenancy reforms in 2016,’

‘We warned these changes would unnerve investors in private rented homes in Scotland, and it should serve as a clear sign of what to expect if similar reforms are introduced elsewhere in the UK,’ he added.

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