Propertymark, the professional body for estate and letting agents has urged the Scottish government to resolve the country’s ongoing housing emergency.

The news comes as Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin called on Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, to issue a statement on Scotland’s ‘housing emergency’ by the end of March.

The Scottish Government plans to invest £400,000 to bring many of the nation’s empty homes back into use, but many councils such as Edinburgh and Glasgow have already declared a housing emergency, with more expected to potentially follow.

Propertymark head of policy and campaigns Timothy Douglas commented:“Mr Yousaf must listen and then promptly act on what is unwinding across Scotland’s housing sector. It is an unacceptable situation that we are witnessing an increasing number of local councils declaring housing emergencies.

“The housing budget from the Scottish Government has been cut and Propertymark are concerned that additional local authorities may also turn to calling housing emergencies across Scotland if ongoing concerns are not resolved with urgency”.

Douglas went on to explain that iIll-conceived legislation which formed parts of the Cost of Living Bill had proven catastrophic, and Rent Caps had made many landlords extremely cautious regarding investment against a challenging backdrop of higher inflation and interest rates.

“The proposed transition period within the updated legislation between 1 April 2024 to 1 April 2025 maybe too little too late to support landlords who have already exited the sector or are planning to exit,” he said.