Scottish Conservatives pledge to scrap rent controls

The Scottish Conservatives have pledged to reverse rent controls and build 80,000 affordable homes to tackle Scotland’s housing emergency.

The party has published its Ending Scotland’s Housing Crisis policy paper, setting out its plan to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis by speeding up housebuilding and helping keep landlords in the private rented sector.

The policy paper comes ahead of the Scottish elections taking place later this year on 7th May.

Fix the damage cause by SNP housing policies

Scottish Conservative shadow housing secretary Meghan Gallacher said: “After 19 years of SNP failure, Scotland is in a housing emergency.

“Housebuilding has stalled due to their budget cuts, rent controls and open-door immigration policies. As a result, homelessness is rising and vulnerable families are being left in the lurch.

“Urgent action is needed to address this crisis, and that’s what our paper proposes.

“The Scottish Conservatives will focus on practical solutions that put vulnerable Scots first, boost supply and fix the damage caused by SNP housing policies.”

Scrap the SNP’s plan for damaging rent controls

The Scottish government previously froze rents during the pandemic, and between 2022 and 2024, rent controls were in place, during which rents surged by 11.6%, the steepest annual increase across the UK.

The government now plans to introduce phased rent controls starting in 2027.

Under the Housing (Scotland) Act, councils must first assess local rent conditions and submit proposals for designated rent control zones to the Scottish government by 31 May 2027.

However, the Scottish Conservatives say rent controls will force landlords to leave the market and pledge to scrap rent controls.

The party says in its policy document: “The solution to lowering rents isn’t more ideological rent controls, it means creating a rental market which incentivises landlords to let their properties, combined with an increase in housing supply.

“We would scrap the SNP’s plan for damaging rent controls. Doing so would stop the exodus of landlords from the market and stop the huge increase in rents we saw a few years ago.”

Extra costs for landlords pushes up rents for tenants

The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is a mandatory tax on all property purchases above a certain threshold, similar to Stamp Duty in England. Separately, the ADS, introduced in April 2016, applies to the purchase of an additional residential property over £40,000, including buy-to-let investments and second homes.

The Scottish Conservatives point out that under the current rules, a landlord buying a £500,000 property, must now pay £63,350, or 12.7%, in LBTT on top of the purchase price.

They argue that these extra costs for landlords ultimately push up rents for tenants over time and pledge to reverse the changes by halving the ADS and scrapping LBTT on primary residences.

Deliver 80,000 affordable homes

Other key policies include guaranteeing no new mandated energy efficiency upgrades before 2031 and scrapping the SNP’s ban on boilers in new-build homes, which would impose penalties of up to £15,000 on home or building owners who do not comply.

Delivering 80,000 affordable homes by 2031 by proposing no more onerous housebuilding regulations until the end of the next parliament and scrapping the SNP’s planning framework, with councils setting their own planning strategies so that they can build the homes they need.

The party also pledge to reinstate the local connection rule after a 3,500% increase in homeless applications to Glasgow city council from outside Scotland since the SNP abolished the local connection rule.