Private rented sector - rent increase frequency: equality impact assessment

Background

The Scottish Government wants to improve housing outcomes for those who rent their home and we know that rent increases can be a concern for some tenants, especially in cases where there are already concerns around affordability of rents.

The Scottish Government is proposing to modify the legislative requirements to provide that the rent payable under a private residential tenancy (PRT) that is not in a rent control area may not be increased during the first 12 months of the tenancy, in order to provide tenants with the security of knowing that the rent they have agreed to at the start of the tenancy will not increase during the first twelve months. This would not apply in areas where rent controls are applied, except in the case of the first rent increase for properties which are not classed as ‘previously-let properties’.

The proposed measures include a regulation-making power which could be used by the Scottish Ministers to disapply this requirement in some circumstances, which will allow for flexibility in cases where this may be appropriate.