Emergency rent freeze laws passed !!??

[happyfishcoco]

Emergency rent freeze laws passed in Scotland
and Welsh maybe follow.

YABU = vote agree to rent freeze
YANBU = vote for not agree to rent freeze

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63164850.amp

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-63131075.amp

I’d love to see the statistics for this, are you able to share please?

Supply and demand. Until there are many many more properties than people wanting to rent this will not be solved.

Some areas of the country suffer as holiday destinations because no one can afford to live there to do the menial tasks like wait tables or cook.

We're building on agricultural land in the countryside and brownfield in towns and cities, to the point at least one area has been told no more houses until the grid has extra capacity to apply more properties.

HMO are being created out of the empty pubs and offices. They're not nice for anyone and allow rents to rise further. And yet still demand rises.

And as @antelopevalley says - this is due to the spread of Airbnb and second homes. We need a Welsh government style control over these AND proper protection for tenants from rent hikes.

his is due to the spread of Airbnb and second homes

In SOME areas. Believe me - I live in Glasgow - second homes and AirBNB is not an issue. But the blanket approach of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is leading to a huge shortage in the rental market and rapidly rising prices.

Not everyone wants to own. Some people are MORE than happy to rent. There has been a thriving student accommodation in Glasgow and other major cities for decades. Never before have second year students been told to take a year out, or commute from a relative's house at the other end of Scotland because there is no accommodation.

I read that a fifth of rental properties are in very poor state of repair.

How does the bank win here?

If interest rates go up then btl mortgages go up too. Small landlords can't cover the increases out of their own pockets, they aren't charities, so they either sell or put the rent up.

That's why we need to get rid of Kwarzi Whatsisface and have someone competent who doesn't spook the money markets.

It would be a dreadful idea, more landlords would just sell up and there is already a desperate shortage of rental houses.

There are three HMO’s next to me owned by the same person. The bedroom window I can see from my kitchen window and a piece of wood was falling off the top section. It’s been sellotaped though….

But you don’t know who’s done that. We rented a God awful house once but it was literally the only one that I could afford so when things went wrong and sometimes it was my attempt at DIY I certainly wasn’t going to phone the landlord to Alert them to the situation in case he thought what the hell is she doing to my house and chucked me out because there was no other option

This. In theory I agree, however I think in reality it will result in a huge issue and people being evicted regardless.

The rental system is just awful at the moment and recent law changes have only made it worse.

I’ve got one flat that I bought with my divorce settlement….I’ve always used the rent to pay my own rent. I’m going to have to sell or potentially end up bankrupt when the mortgage goes up and the property prices reduce. Already lost 15k because it was worth slightly more than 250k. Moving in with my DM ….evil landlords eh?!

We need these kind of landlords out of the market. Landlords who are living hand to mouth with rents paying the mortgage should not be in the market. They can rarely afford to maintain their properties of anything big goes wrong and they seem to be the ones most likely to break the law when it comes to evictions.

You should not be a landlord, you do not have the financial stability to do this.

Having rented in Germany, if you genuinely think it is better there, this is cherry picking the best and omitting the worst.

I completely agree with you @FamilyTreeBuilder - And short term lets is awful in some places but - even in Glasgow where there are nearly 2500 short term lets - that would alleviate the shortage of student - or family homes.

Right, landlords are selling up because they can’t increase rent and won’t make profit, abit greedy don’t you think? fill your pockets than give a family a home, think of the tenants not the bank cheque

This is just a cheap political move by the SNP. They are beholden to the Greens and landlords are a favourite target. Very short sighted. There is a massive shortage of rental properties. This will only make it worse. And landlords (in Scotland certainly) are already highly regulated.

@antelopevalley well who do you think he’s going to pick up the slack then because the housing associations appear to have run out of government money, the councils have absolutely no intention of ever building council houses ever again that’s cloud cuckoo land thinking. The alternative is Blackhorse investments type companies. They will look at black and white numbers with no human interactions, got a CCJ … computer says no. Criminal conviction… computer says no …. Earn less than 30 x the rent, computer says no … you get the picture.

In Scotland, since 2006 private landlords have required to be registered with the local council in the same area as the property. The register sets a standard of LL behaviour, property standards and maintenance. Every LL must meet legal requirements .A landlord has to meet certain criteria before they can register. They must pass the council’s fit and proper person test. They could fail this if they have:been convicted of criminal behaviour;discriminated against a tenant;harassed or illegally evicted a tenant;allowed antisocial behaviour in a home they rented out; not done repairs when ordered to by the tribunal.
LL Registration has to be renewed every 3 years.

Every tenant can easily check their LL is registered and complain to the council if the private let isnt compliant with Register rules. Losing their Registration is a serious problem for a LL. Operating unregistered is a criminal offence by the LL, max fine 50 K.

www.mygov.scot/renting-your-property-out/your-responsibilities

IOW (unlike England) private LL's in Scotland are already up to their necks in compulsory tenant protections. By the time 6 months of frozen rent and eviction-ban finally ends, Scotland will see a huge reduction in the number of private property available to rent. The main victims, will be tenants who can't find a home to rent.

Please do not pretend landlords are charities. They are a business. If you can't afford to run a business you should sell up.

Right, landlords are selling up because they can’t increase rent and won’t make profit, abit greedy don’t you think?

Landlords will sell up rather than operate at a loss. They are not running a charity service.

@2bazookas Bingo they are not running a charity. They are a business. So why should anyone else care if some individual landlords can no longer afford to run their business? Other landlords with better business sense will move in instead.

Come on then Antelopevalley seeing as you have all the answers, where are all the students going to find accommodation? Or the people who are seconded to one of the big hospitals/universities in Scotland who need a 6 month let and can't get one?

There seems to be this myth that everyone who is renting is exploited and ripped off, and would love to be able to buy property. That may be the case for some, others are more than happy renting and would not ever consider buying a property when they know they are only ever going to be somewhere for 6 months to a year.

No, but neither do I want landlords selling up and evicting the tenant to do so because they can't cover their mortgage.

My friend currently pays £500 per month to rent out her house due to increase on the mortgage. She can't live in it due to disabilities. She's now having to sell it, and evicting the tenants in the process.