Landlords in Scotland are elevating rents yearly to compensate for the bounds of lease controls, Hamptons analysis exhibits.
Since April 2024 lease will increase in Scotland have been restricted to the bottom of: the ‘open market lease’, the lease proposed by the owner, or the ‘permitted lease’ the place the tenant is paying a minimum of 6% under the market price.
Two thirds (67%) of Scottish landlords elevated the lease in each 2024 and 2025, in comparison with 58% throughout Nice Britain as a complete.
David Fell, lead analyst at Hamptons, stated: “The proof from Scotland means that lease controls not often work as meant.
“At greatest, they delay lease will increase; at worst, they set a brand new benchmark the place landlords really feel compelled to extend their rents yearly by the utmost allowed.
“Confronted with uncertainty over future guidelines, many landlords select to lift rents little and sometimes reasonably than danger falling far under market ranges.
“Whereas the Renters’ Rights Act will give tenants extra time and energy to problem rents at tribunal, the proof suggests caps are solely a sticking plaster.
“Long term, the one approach of creating rents extra reasonably priced is to extend the variety of houses accessible to lease and increase competitors amongst landlords for tenants.”
For these landlords who did increase their lease, the scale of the typical enhance was decrease in Scotland (10.1%) in comparison with the Nice Britain common (12.2%).
Since June 2025, the tempo of rental development on new lets has picked up in Scotland, regardless of rents falling throughout Nice Britain.
Scottish rents rose by 2.5% from the identical time final 12 months, certainly one of solely two areas in Nice Britain the place rents rose by greater than 2% over the past 12 months.
