Apr

What about landlords’ rights? Association says Scots plans to protect tenants ‘unfair’

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Landlords’ rights will be eroded if the Scottish government goes ahead with plans for PRS reform in its draft rented sector strategy, according to Propertymark.

The association believes the tenant-centred approach of A New Deal for Tenants overlooks the needs and rights of letting agents and landlords, particularly around their ability to seek possession of properties.

The government is currently consulting on proposals which include a system of rent controls, setting up a regulator for the private rented sector, and creating a new housing standard covering all homes.

In its response, Propertymark opposes rent controls and describes a proposal to ban winter evictions as “unnecessary and unworkable”.

It is also against the removal of mandatory grounds for possession and is “deeply concerned” that such a change would make the uncertainties around possessions too risky for landlords and that some will simply quit.

Propertymark adds that without providing incentives to stay, it risks losing investment and properties from a sector that is already struggling to keep up with demand.

As a flavour of how ‘tenant-centre’ the New Deal for Tenants is, throughout it the word ‘tenants’ appears 289 times — nearly twice as many times as ‘landlords’ (165 times).

Daryl McIntosh, policy manager for the UK devolved nations, says that by considering tenants in isolation, policymakers are showing little regard for the legal rights of landlords and their letting agents.

“The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has just published its scrutiny of the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill in which it too leans favourably towards tenants, despite hearing warnings directly from landlords that permanent changes to the possessions process would place too much financial risk on them and could force more to sell up,” says McIntosh (pictured).

He adds: “The sector is already under huge strain and desperately in need of more investment, not less, so we urge the Scottish government to carefully balance its reforms to ensure any interventions to achieve short-term objectives do not lead to market failure in the long run.”

The comments by Propertymark have not gone down well with local housing rights campaigners. Living Rent, the country’s largest tenants’ union, has slammed the comments and suggested the trade body is trying to shield landlords from the “biggest squeeze in income for generations”.

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