Scots who rent their homes from a private landlord deserve a break.
Throughout lockdown, we’ve heard a lot from the UK and Scottish Governments about the need to help those fortunate enough to own their property.
We’ve had mortgage holidays and a whole range of incentives to get the property market moving again in the summer once the economy began to restart.
As a result, the last two months have been a boom time for estate agents and buy-to-let landlords.
But let’s not forget that at least 15 per cent of Scots are in a private rental agreements, many of them younger and from less affluent backgrounds.
In some parts of the country – Edinburgh being the prime example – buying a home has become an unaffordable luxury for many.
That’s why it’s important the private rental market is properly regulated.
Yesterday, MSPs agreed to take another look at legislation which could see tenants being able to apply at any time to a rent officer for a “fair open market rent” to be set for a property.
It would also see landlords being forced to make more information public about their properties.
These are sensible ideas that are worthy of MSPs’ consideration before being put into law.
Scotland’s rental market has for too long prioritised landlords’ profit over tenants’ rights.
