Industry body urges Scottish government to boost investment in the PRS

An industry body has slammed the Scottish government for failing to offer pro-growth policies to tackle the housing emergency.

Propertymark says investment in the private rented sector is key to tackling Scotland’s housing emergency.

The news comes after the Scottish government announced more funding for new social homes and homelessness prevention.

£4 million of homelessness prevention funding

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville, told the Scottish Parliament: “This year, the Scottish government is investing £768 million to support the delivery of 8,000 homes for social and mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership.

“We have also announced £4 million of homelessness prevention funding and £2 million to increase the scale and pace of privately owned empty homes being returned to use.

“We remain committed to working closely with the private sector to support economic growth, including through regional economic partnerships.”

Fail to recognise the tax burden

However, Propertymark say these measures don’t address the real costs buyers face and call for more investment in the private rented sector.

Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said: “While we welcome the Scottish government’s investments to build more houses and get empty homes back into use, as set out in the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice’s statement, they fail to recognise the tax burden people face when buying property.

“There needs to be a far greater focus from the Scottish government on pro-growth policies that allow people to buy a home of their own and support people to invest in buy-to-let property that in turn will bring down the cost of renting and help tackle the housing emergency.”

He adds: “These include reviewing all costs and taxes impacting private landlords, cutting the devastating 8% surcharge for buy-to-let homes and urgently revising the bands and reducing the rates for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax to help more people get on the housing ladder.”