MSPs warned of ‘perfect storm’ if rent freeze lifts while bills are still rising

A tenants’ union has warned of a “perfect storm” facing those in the private rental sector if the Scottish Government’s rent freeze is lifted while energy bills are still rising.

Ministers passed an emergency Bill last year capping rent increases and freezing evictions.

The regulations were extended until September 30, with the potential for a further extension to the end of March next year if ministers deem it to be necessary.

The March extension, however, lifted the cap on rent rises from 0% to 3% with the potential for landlords to apply for an increase of up to 6% if required, but a similar provision in place before March was used sparingly by owners.

Speaking at the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on Tuesday, Emma Saunders, the national organiser at Living Rent, said: “The emergency rent freeze has, I think, had an impact of tempering the worst excesses and I think we would be concerned as well with a premature end to the rent freeze when energy bills are going to continue to rise.

“Then it could just be this perfect storm of rising rents, rising bills and tenants with no money at all left.”

The legislation has proven controversial, particularly among landlords, with a coalition mounting a legal challenge at the Court of Session against the regulations, claiming they led to a “material adverse impact on the income and capital of landlords renting property in Scotland”.

The Scottish Association of Landlords; Scottish Land and Estates; and Propertymark are involved in the action.

The committee also heard of the impact of mould and damp in housing on tenants’ health and mental wellbeing.

Across two panels, the first for tenant advocates and the second from representatives of landlords, there was widespread agreement that tenants should not be blamed for the spread of mould.

According to a Shelter Scotland briefing sent to the committee, 54,000 homes suffer from rising or penetrating damp, 192,000 were recorded as having condensation and tenants in 90,000 socially rented homes reported either damp, mould or both.

Debbie King, the head of advocacy at housing charity Shelter Scotland, said: “This is not about how tenants are living.

“Tenants come to us and say they’re being blamed for this situation – it’s not the case.

“We all need to boil our pasta, have a shower, dry our clothes inside, that’s the nature of living in Scotland.”

Ms King, who claimed some clients at Shelter Scotland had reported adverse health issues caused by mould including asthma and eczema in children, added: “For the people who are struggling with this, it’s never ending.”

She went on to call for a further 38,500 social homes to be built in this parliamentary term to try and stem the problem.

Ms Saunders said some of the blame placed on tenants over mould issues was akin to “gaslighting”, while Shona Gorman, the chair of the Central Scotland Regional Network of Tenants and Residents, said blaming tenants has “gone on for years”, because it was “an easy way out”.

John Kerr, the co-chair of the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (Alacho), said he would be “extremely disappointed” if tenants in the social rented sector were blamed for mould and damp, adding that such a move by landlords is “not appropriate” and “not effective”.

John Blackwood, the chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords, said: “I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by the landlord effectively blaming the tenant for essentially a problem which is in everyone’s interest to fix.”

Timothy Douglas, the head of policy and campaigns for Propertymark, the professional body representing letting agents, said they did not have “extensive evidence to suggest the issue is drastic”, but added: “The first signs of damp and mould should be tackled quickly.”