As many as 14,000 build-to-rent (BTR) homes are stuck in limbo and may never be built due to SNP policy changes, research has suggested.
Data from property agency Rettie indicated the majority of the homes at risk of not moving forward are in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, which all have a smaller proportion of BTR homes per 1,000 households than Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, as well as many London boroughs.
It comes as First Minister John Swinney admitted there was a national housing emergency earlier this year.
Now, The Times reports, Rettie has called for legislative support to help revive the sector and address the country's housing issues.
The firm estimates there is around £2billion worth of construction work stuck in planning and pre-planning phases, with construction slowing since ministers introduced a rent freeze during the cost of living crisis in 2022.
The new Housing Bill going through Holyrood also makes provisions for local authorities to implement rent-control zones where price rises will be limited to inflation plus 1%.
John Boyle, the director of strategy and research at Rettie, is quoted in The TImes as calling the lack of progress on BTR homes in Scotland "alarming".
He added: “Scotland has a risk premium due to concerns about future legislative and tax changes.
"This premium was raised following the introduction of the rent freeze in autumn 2022, with no prior consultation or warning, and has remained high due to the prospect of a national system of rent controls proposed in the new Housing (Scotland) Bill, which is progressing through parliament.
“Strong underlying market fundamentals have kept Scotland’s BTR sector alive - however there has been very slow progress over the last year and no new investment in the sector for the best part of two years.”
Boyle added: “Revisions to the Housing Bill will be required to breathe life back into the sector, otherwise build-to-rent will continue to happen in the rest of the UK, but not here.”
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