A freeze on rents for private tenants will be replaced by a 3% rent cap for at least another six months, the Scottish government confirms today (19 January).  

The administration, led by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, says that rent rises by landlords will be curtailed and forced evictions will continue to be prevented for all tenants “except in a number of specified circumstances” from 1 April.  

It adds these “temporary measures” will be extended to 30 September, with the option to keep them in place for a further six months.  

The move follows the Scottish government’s introduction of a rent freeze under its Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act passed last October as it responds to the cost-of-living crisis.  

Tenants Rights’ Minister Patrick Harvie says: “While the primary purpose of the legislation is to support tenants, I recognise that costs have been rising for landlords too.   

“That’s why we intend to allow those in the private sector to increase rents by up to 3%, with a continued safeguard allowing them to apply for larger increases to cover specified rising costs they might be seeing as landlords. “By allowing increases in rent – capped well below inflation and limited to once per 12 months – we can continue protecting tenants from the minority of landlords who would impose unaffordable rent hikes.   

“We will continue to carefully monitor the impacts of this legislation, working with tenants and landlords to protect them from this costs crisis.”  

The proposed legislation, which must be passed by Holyrood, does allow landlords to apply for increases of up to 6% “to help cover certain increases in costs in defined and limited circumstances”.  

However, the law will suspend rent caps for student accommodation “recognising its limited impact on annual rents set on the basis of an academic year”.  

Damages to tenants for unlawful evictions of up to 36 months of rent will continue to apply.  

Landlords can force evictions if tenants are found to be guilty of criminal or anti-social behaviour, or where the tenant has built up substantial rent arrears.   

Goodlord director of insurance Oli Sherlock says: “A rent freeze is a knee-jerk reaction which, although it might help some tenants in the short run, is unsustainable and has the long-term impact of pushing more landlords out the market and squeezing the availability of rental homes.   

“A price cap is a more sensible step forward than a freeze, but it’s still not addressing the key issues facing the market today. We have an economic and regulatory environment that is driving landlords away from the sector and not enough homes to go around.   

“Unless decision-makers explore long-term ways to address the housing shortage and keep landlords from leaving, sticking plaster solutions are only delaying the impact of rent rises on tenants.”  

Earlier this week, Rics UK Residential Survey noted that across the whole of the country, new landlord instructions remain on a downward trend, with a net balance of -24% of respondents seeing a decline last month.   

Last October, the Scottish Association of Landlords said was is considering legal action over the move to freeze rents for its members.  

Around 38% of households in Scotland rent their homes, according to a consultation paper issued by the Scottish government in December.