Propertymark criticises Scottish government over lack of focus on housing
12:01 AM, 3rd September 2026, 1 week ago
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An industry body has slammed the Scottish government for barely mentioning housing despite the country’s ongoing housing emergency.
Propertymark says First Minister John Swinney’s first speech in the Scottish Parliament since the summer recess failed to mention reducing tax burdens for landlords.
The criticism comes as the Scottish government proposes giving renters a period of exclusivity to buy a property when their landlord puts it on the market, at what it describes as “a fair market rate”.
More people in Scotland get a home
Mr Swinney said in his speech: “Our ambition, and our intention, is that more people in Scotland get a home that they can afford.
“That includes investment to deliver 111,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70 per cent available for social rent.
“Our ‘First Homes Fund’ has been launched and will continue throughout this parliamentary term. It will give much-needed help, worth up to £10,000, to thousands of first-time buyers.
“And we will ensure fair access to safe housing, including the roll out of our new £50 million homelessness prevention fund, with the first awards made this year. We will end the use of unsafe and harmful temporary accommodation for children”.
However, Mr Swinney failed to mention how the Scottish government would help tenants and landlords.
Reduced tax burden for landlords
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said the Scottish government must do more to help landlords and tenants.
He said: “Despite the ongoing welcome commitment to the First Homes Fund and affordable homes, housing was barely mentioned by the First Minister in his programme for government speech, which is surprising considering the ongoing housing emergency that Scotland faces.
“Talk of new structures for local government risks exacerbating this situation further, as resources will likely be pooled rather than expanded.
“Furthermore, for all the words about strengthening the economy, there was no mention of reducing costs and taxes for renters and home buyers and sellers. History shows us that when property taxation is lowered or removed, transactions increase in the sales market, while a reduced tax burden for landlords means fewer costs being passed on to tenants via higher rents.
“Tenants and landlords alike would also benefit from a better-resourced First Tier Tribunal, which must form part of the Scottish government’s reorganisation. Plans for a right of first refusal for tenants to buy their rented property must also be workable and evidence-based”.
Proposed EPC targets
Mr Douglas added proposed EPC C targets for 2028 for new tenancies and 2033 for all existing tenancies must not result in a one-size-fits-all solution.
He said: “Any reforms via the Heating and Energy Performance Bill to bring about minimum energy efficiency standards for the property sector in Scotland must be realistic and achievable, as well as avoid a one-size-fits-all approach for rural and urban housing.
“The Council Tax (Scotland) Bill will introduce two extra bands for the mansion tax, a measure that will only target a small minority of properties and risks this end of the market being held up by disputes over valuations and administration.”
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Renters' Rights Act piles work on letting agents
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2510
11:50 AM, 3rd September 2026, About 1 week ago
The SNP in Scotland have recently done a number of things that the rest of the UK can learn from. One of the things that Scotland did was to introduce rent controls. The effect of rent controls in Scotland was to raise rents, just as they do everywhere:
https://www.property118.com/landlord-exodus-and-rent-controls-drive-rising-rents-across-scotland/
In recent years Glasgow has been an SNP stronghold but SNP policies on homeless people have been reported as “Their decision to abolish local connection and priority need rules has made Glasgow a magnet for asylum seekers.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/03/glasgow-breaking-point-migrants-exploit-snp-housing-policy/?msockid=0b8a4155c7db6ba1058955b1c6196a07
Andy Burnham’s homelessness policies in Manchester have also led to reports that “Last year, Manchester City Council said refugees were particularly drawn to Manchester as a “friendly global city”, but many were falling into rough sleeping as support services grew overloaded with rising demand.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39e0zjz3j0o
If Councils or government leaders want to do something about homelessness, whether that is domestic homelessness or homelessness due to migration, then surely their Chief Executives and prime ministers need to do it maturely and quietly, otherwise they will either disadvantage local homeless people, or create the perception that this is what they are doing. Perhaps both. And surely they also need to make it easier to see which homelessness charities do actually house people, and how many people homelessness charities house for a given amount of investment.
The government gives tens of millions of pounds to Shelter, supposedly a charity, but a charity that houses nobody and instead has spent much of its time attacking landlords. Perhaps instead of giving Shelter tens of millions of pounds the government needs to look at what a homelessness charity needs to do to achieve charitable status and also quietly work out how to achieve growth in the charitable sector. Perhaps in the first instance the government could work out which homelessness charities house people most efficiently in the major cities and divert the tens of millions of pounds that they have been providing to Shelter to these charities.
There is a lot to be learned from the SNP experiment in Glasgow….mostly a warning about how NOT to do things.