ALL six of Scotland’s main political parties have MSPs who are landlords, The National can reveal.
From an analysis of all 129 MSPs' registers of interests, we found that overall 27 (20%) have property interests. This includes renting a property, having a second home, and shares in a real estate firm.
There are 18 MSPs who generate income from rental properties or holiday lets.
In 2021, 25 MSPs were landlords or had shares in letting companies.
However, more than half of the MSPs elected in 2026 are new to the Scottish Parliament, with a significant number of parliamentarians from across parties standing down ahead of the election.
Tenants union Living Rent said the issue highlighted why there is low trust in politics if every party has a “landlord in its ranks”.
The National’s analysis found that eight (47%) of Reform UK’s 17 MSPs have property interests, including Scotland leader Malcolm Offord. We previously revealed he has a multi-million-pound property empire, including properties in the Isle of Wight and South Africa.
Julie MacDougall, representing Mid Scotland and Fife, owns two rental properties: one in the Canary Islands and another in Edinburgh. Highlands and Islands MSP Victor Currie rents out a flat in East Lothian, while South Scotland MSP Senga Beresford has a holiday cottage in Dumfries and Galloway.
Angela Ross owns a cottage in East Lothian, Kim Schmulian co-owns a flat in the same area with her sisters, where her mother resides, and Mark Simpson owns a flat in London worth up to £500,000.
Helen McDade has a 50% share in a shop in South Lanarkshire, which provides her with rental income.
The SNP also have eight MSPs with property interests, 13% of their 58 MSPs, including Economy and Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn, who has a rental flat in Aberdeen, and Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad, who also has a rental flat in the city.
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale MSP Calum Kerr has a furnished holiday let in the Highland Council area, while Stirling MSP Alyn Smith owns half of a house in Edinburgh, where his parents live.
Climate Action Secretary Gillian Martin has a house in Aberdeenshire.
Former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie owns 50% of the share capital of Ben Sheann Enterprises Limited, which buys and sells real estate.
Both the Scottish Tories and Scottish LibDems have three MSPs each who generate income from properties.
Elsewhere, millionaire Scottish Tory MSP Alexander Burnett is the trustee of the Banchory Trust, which owns property in Aberdeenshire valued at around £17m, and the Fordie Trust, which has properties in the area valued at around £4.7m. The Aberdeenshire West MSP also owns AJA Burnett estate, valued at around £18m.
Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Tory MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, rents out a flat in Edinburgh for up to £15,000 a year.
James Adams, who became an MSP after Douglas Lumsden won the Aberdeen South by-election in June, describes himself as a landlord in his Aberdeenshire Council register of interests. He has three properties: one in Fraserburgh, one in Aberdeen, and co-owns another in Badenoch and Strathspey.
The Scottish LibDems also have three landlord MSPs. Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton still has his garden shed – which he lets out on Airbnb – and South Scotland MSP Duncan Dunlop has a rental property in Montenegro. Morven-May MacCallum, the Highlands and Islands LibDem MSP, makes up to £15,000 a year from renting a caravan in the area she represents.
Scottish Labour has two MSPs who rent out properties: Irshad Ahmed, who rents out a flat and house in the Edinburgh and Lothians East area he represents, and Claire Baker, who co-owns a flat in Aberdeen with her husband. Ahmed also has two commercial properties he generates rental income from, while Baker co-owns a house in France with her husband.
Laura Moodie, the Scottish Greens MSP for South Scotland, rents out a flat in Glasgow and has shares in a property in Wakefield. It is understood that this share was inherited and cannot be sold, and she does not receive any income from it.
Fellow Green MSP Q Manivannan has a house in India, but is understood to rent their home in Scotland, while Cara McKee has a quarter share of a family property in West Yorkshire.
In response to our findings, Ruth Gilbert, chair of Living Rent, said: "Our politicians are elected to represent their constituents, not profit from them.
"How can tenants expect politicians to represent their interests when so many MSPs have a vested interest in keeping rents high and perpetuating a housing system which benefits landlords over ordinary people?
“For so many MSPs to own more than one home, be it rented out or a second home, shows how far removed our politicians are from the cost of living crisis hitting tenants and the poorest across the country.
“It is no wonder trust is so low when every party has a landlord in its ranks.”
Gilbert pointed out that rents in Edinburgh have increased by 104% and by 85% in Glasgow, far above inflation at 50%, in the past 15 years.
“No tenant has had a wage increase anywhere comparable,” she added.
“At the same time, the social housing waiting list has ballooned to close to a quarter of a million and over 200,000 children are stuck in poverty.
“A parliament riddled with landlords cannot serve the interests of working-class people during a housing emergency. We need to rid our parliament of landlords, and candidates should be forced to declare their interests before being elected, not months later."
The SNP and Scottish LibDems said that MSPs declared their interests in line with parliamentary rules.
The Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Reform UK and Scottish Tories did not respond to our request for comment.
