Landlords ‘treat tenants appallingly’ in lockdown

LANDLORDS have used the Covid pandemic to hike rents and refuse to carry out repairs, MSPs have been told.

Tenants have now called for more measures to tackle aboveinflation rent rises which are swallowing incomes.

They said rents have been rising above inflation by around 40 per cent over the past decade, particularly in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Holyrood’s local government committee was hearing evidence yesterday on the Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Labour MSP Pauline McNeill.

The Bill would prevent private landlords from increasing rents by more than the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation plus 1 per cent.

Gordon Maloney, national committee member of tenants’ organisation Living Rent, said coronavirus had exposed the lack of power tenants had.

He said: ‘In the Scottish Association of Landlords’ response, they cite a handful of examples of cases where landlords have been fairly generous with their tenants.

‘We could cite just as many examples of cases where landlords have acted disgracefully – hiking rents, refusing to make repairs, treating tenants appallingly over the course of the past 12 months.’

He said the system of rent pressure zones (RPZs) introduced in 2016 had not led to substantial changes for tenants. Under the RPZs, local councils can apply to Scottish ministers to have an area designated for action if they can prove rents in that area are rising too much.

John Blackwood, chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords, also gave evidence to the committee. He said that government needed to collect better data on rents which were actually being charged in the sector. Mr Blackwood said: ‘My concern is that this Bill will just further exasperate the issue... we believe it will result in higher rent and more frequent rent increases.’