‘Emergency legislation’ is set to freeze rents and place restrictions on evictions in Scotland.

To be fast-tracked through the Scottish Parliament, Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill will give Ministers temporary power to freeze rents for private and social tenancies from 6 September 2022 until at least 31 March 2023. Further, the power to freeze or cap increases can be extended for two further six-month periods.

Enforcement of eviction actions resulting from the cost crisis will be prevented over the same period except in a number of specified circumstances. Damages for unlawful evictions will be increased to a maximum of 36 months’ worth of rent.

These measures will also apply to students in college or university halls of residence or other types of purpose-built accommodation.

‘Safeguards’ for private sector landlords will allow them to apply to increase rent to help pay for increases in a limited number of specific costs, including rental property mortgage interest payments.

‘The cost-of-living crisis is an emergency demanding an emergency response. Even as energy, food bills and other day-to-day basics become more expensive, today’s legislation freezing rents and protecting tenants from eviction will give tenants stability in their homes and confidence about their housing costs’, said Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie.

‘We know that many landlords have been doing what they can to protect their tenants, but some tenants are being hit with large rent increases that are hard to justify. This legislation aims to protect all tenants from substantial increases, balancing the protections that are urgently needed for tenants with safeguards for those landlords who may also be impacted by the cost crisis’.

The Government said no decision had yet been taken about the use of these emergency measures after 31 March 2023. ‘Any decision will consider the cost of living situation as it develops, and will be also be informed by our engagement with tenants, landlords and other stakeholders’.

Forewarning of the change came last month when the Sottish Government announced a combined rent freeze and moratorium on evictions would be ‘the centrepiece of the 2022-23 Programme for Government’.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this had been published ‘in the context of the most severe cost crisis in many of our lifetimes. It is a crisis pushing millions into poverty and poses a genuine danger, not just to livelihoods, but to lives’.

Initial reaction from housing sector commentators has not been welcoming.

‘With this Bill, the SNP and Greens have put political rhetoric ahead of measures that would achieve real results in solving Scotland’s housing crisis’, said chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords. John Blackwood.

‘They have neglected the housing sector in Scotland, leaving it to crumble. Those needing a home shout for help but no-one answers. Big promises of improvements never materialise. All the while, costs rise unchecked.

‘Contrast that with the overwhelming majority of landlords in Scotland whose businesses want to invest in more housing, engage closely with tenants, improve and upgrade properties and keep rent levels affordable, in the interests of both tenants and landlords.

‘By approaching this problem in a political way rather than as a serious policy discussion, the SNP and Greens have already caused investment to halt, with fewer homes available and people struggling to find somewhere to live. That is irresponsible whichever way you look at it.

“More than that, the policy is unravelling now it has hit the real world. The First Minister grandly announced there would be no more evictions at all but that has, thankfully, already been eroded to provide at least some basic provisions to allow landlords to protect communities from anti-social or criminal behaviour.

‘The “rent freeze” that was supposed to be immediate is shown not to be quite as it appeared. The scope of the Bill is muddled, the processes unclear.

‘We know the SNP and Greens will ram this Bill through but that will only result in poor law. We can already see it is full of holes and may well be open to legal challenge, particularly around protection of private property and ownership’.

Scottish Land & Estates, which represents some of Scotland’s largest rural housing providers, said the new legislation – to be introduced, debated and passed in just three days – will compound the systemic problems already facing the sector.

‘For many involved in the private rented sector, this is a watershed moment that will damage the provision of housing for years to come’, said SLE head of policy Stephen Young.

The planned legislations ‘will shatter the ability of the rented sector to function properly and will ultimately dent the supply of housing’, he said.

‘We recognise the effect inflation is having on every part of society and the difficulties it has created, particularly for vulnerable groups.

However, the Scottish Government’s provision of social and local authority housing has been falling substantially over recent decades and rather than fix the systemic issues that exists, it instead chooses to pursue populist policies against landlords.

‘While this may increase the rights of current tenants in the short term, the decline in numbers of rental properties available will ultimately have a detrimental impact on future tenants and social mobility in Scotland as it becomes ever harder to find suitable accommodation’.

* A new licensing scheme for short-term lets came into effect in Scotland on 1 October. It was developed in response to concerns raised by residents about the impact of short-term let properties on their local communities, said the Government. And it gives councils flexibility to develop licensing schemes that meet local needs, and sits alongside powers for councils to establish short-term let control areas.

To comply with the licence, short term let landlords will be required to meet a set of mandatory conditions which apply across Scotland, plus any additional conditions set by their council.

Anyone operating a short term let before 1 October has until 1 April 2023 to apply for a licence and can operate until their application has been determined. New short term let landlords must obtain a licence before accepting bookings and taking guests.