Campaigners are stepping up their battle to prevent a rent freeze and evictions ban becoming law in Scotland.

Propertymark has been working with other stakeholders including Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL), National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) to obtain a legal opinion on the Scottish Government’s legislation.

The coalition is seeking a legal view on the validity of the Cost of Living (Tenants) (Scotland) Bill 2022 which was approved by Holyrood on 6 October by 89 to 27 votes, but has not yet received Royal Assent. It was proposed by Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (main picture), and is intended to be in place until at least March 2023.

The coalition has instructed Lord Neil Davidson of Glen Clova KC, Advocate at Axiom Advocates, to say if the legislation breaches the individual rights of landlords in Scotland, and breaks the European Convention on Human Rights.

If Lord Davidson’s opinion, which is due within the next month, makes clear a breach of landlords’ rights has occurred, then all legal options available to the coalition will be considered.

Significant impact

Propertymark has serious concerns over the “lack of evidence and rushed consultation” that are the basis of decisions that “will significantly impact the use and ownership of property”.

Timothy Douglas (pictured), head of policy and campaigns, was meeting officials late last week to discuss Royal Assent and implementation.

Douglas earlier told the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee: “Propertymark’s member agents have already seen a decline in the number of homes available for rent because of rising costs levied on their landlords, and warned any form of rent control in the short and longer-term will mean more landlords selling up”.

The Scottish Government said: “These are exceptional measures developed at pace to reflect a rapidly worsening cost of living crisis.”