The Scottish Government is facing a backlash over its plans for a combined rent freeze and moratorium on evictions.
Nicola Sturgeon announced in her Programme for Government earlier this week that emergency legislation would be brought in to help tackle the “humanitarian emergency” caused by the cost of living crisis.
If Holyrood agrees to the plans then rent for both private and socially rented housing will be frozen at today’s level until at least March. There will be a ban on evictions over the same period.
John Blackwood, chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords, said that he had been “inundated by landlords saying they will be removing their vacant properties from the rental market, and I don’t blame them” because of the rent freeze.
He accused ministers of having “chosen the easy option of attacking landlords for political reasons” and risking worsening the housing crisis by limiting supply.
He told The Times: “Who on earth is going to let a property in the knowledge that they will be unable to meet their own financial and maintenance obligations if their tenants don’t pay the rent or their outgoings increase?"