Housing (Scotland) Bill: Rent control exemption consultation now open

The Association for Rental Living welcomes the announcement made last week by the Scottish Government that a consultation which seeks views on how powers within the Housing (Scotland) Bill could be used to exempt certain types of properties from rent control, circumstances where rents could be increased above the level of the rent cap and clarify how joint tenancies in the private sector are ended, has opened.

The consultation paper considers properties for exemption that includes “purpose-built rental housing – build to rent”.

The negative impact of rent controls on investment into Scotland, and in turn, new housing delivery including Build to Rent, has been an issue that the Association for Rental Living, via its Scottish Hub, has long campaigned on. Amongst other actions, concerns over the impact of rent control and a request for reconsideration were voiced by the Association for Rental Living in a collective sector-wide letter delivered directly to the Scottish Housing minister last year. Indeed, the latest analysis from the Scottish Property Federation and Savills reveals that these concerns are already being felt with the number of Build to Rent homes under construction across Scotland dropping 26% in the past 12 months.

In our continued efforts to work with the Scottish Government on this issue, the Association for Rental Living will be making a submission to this consultation on behalf of the sector, and we welcome the views of our members to contribute to this.

The consultation closes on Friday, 18 July. Read the full consultation paper here https://lnkd.in/eBSN6AWk.

For those members who wish to share their views, please submit them to [email protected] by 13 June 2025.