- Requirements on local authorities to assess rent conditions in their area, at least once every five years.
- Powers for Scottish Ministers to introduce rent control areas and place limits on rent increases.
- Restrictions on rent increases at the start of a tenancy in Rent Control Areas.
- Limits on how often rent can increase during a tenancy both in and outside Rent Control Areas.
- New rights for private and social housing tenants to request to keep a pet.
- New rights for private housing tenants to make changes to the property they are renting.
- Allowing unclaimed deposits to be paid to the Scottish Ministers or into another fund so that they can be used to provide support to private tenants across Scotland.
- Allowing a single joint tenant to end a joint tenancy.
- Giving Scottish Ministers the power to convert assured tenancies into private residential tenancies.
The changes will come into force in phases with the first in April 2026, then May 2026, then October 2026 followed by some further changes in April 2027. The key dates are:
1 April 2026
- Data Collection Power – Local Authorities & Scottish Ministers can ask for information on the level of rent from landlords.
1 May 2026
- UK Renters’ Rights Act makes it illegal for landlords and agents in Scotland to discriminate against tenants with children or those in receipt of benefits.
6 October 2026
- Awaab’s Law – New legal duties for landlords to investigate and repair damp and mould hazards, ensuring the health and safety of the tenant within specific timescales.
- Succession of a tenancy – The time that a qualifying person needs to have lived in a private residential tenancy to succeed to a tenancy on the death of the tenant will reduce from 12 to 6 months.
- Wrongful termination payments - The amount that can be awarded by the First-tier Tribunal to a tenant where their tenancy has been wrongfully terminated will be increased to between 3 and 36 months’ rent.
1 April 2027
- Rent adjudication – Timescale for a tenant to apply for a review of a proposed rent increase will increase to 30 days; and the amount of rent determined by the Rent Officer or Tribunal cannot go above that requested by the landlord.
- Ending a joint tenancy – An additional way for a joint tenant to end a private residential tenancy for all tenants comes into force.
Our role
Propertymark is a member of the Scottish Government’s PRS Stakeholder Engagement Group and engages with Ministers, Officials and other groups to provide feedback on behalf of members as well as support implementation and the creation of guidance.
We continue to closely monitor and support commencement orders and draft regulations as they are published and provide updated resources and support to members as the Act is implemented.
Letting Agent Register changes now in force (from 1 April 2026)
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 makes a number of changes to the letting agent register to improve transparency and strengthen oversight.
Actions letting agents should take:
- Review business ownership structures and identify anyone who owns 25% or more of the company, partnership, or body, as they will have to provide details upon registration.
- Make sure this ownership information is ready to be included in any new application or renewal.
- Check that all details currently held on the letting agent register are accurate and up to date.
- Include your letting agent registration number on social media posts, digital adverts, property portal listings, email marketing, and website content where properties or letting services are being advertised, to reflect the requirement to display it in property advertisements and communications.
- Put internal processes in place so any future prescribed information can be updated promptly.
- Be aware that a refusal or removal from the register will now remain visible for three years, instead of 12 months.
- Understand that Scottish Ministers have updated powers to request information and inspect records as part of register oversight.
Access our member toolkit
Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 Toolkit
The toolkit breaks down the Act and its implementation, including guidance, fact sheets, timelines, and resources to help you prepare for the changes.
Representing members
Throughout the passage of the legislation Propertymark gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament twice, met with Scottish Government officials and MSPs to raise issues, lobby for changes and drafted amendments that were tabled. We also held meetings with other sector organisations and working groups with members as well as our Regional Executives in Scotland to support the evidence base for the changes we wanted to see.
Evidence sessions
Policy work leading up to the legislation through the New Deal for Tenants talked about affordable rents, supply of rented homes and quality raising standards, but the legislation does very little to increase the supply of private rented homes and only offers rent control as the solution to improve affordability for renters.
That is why it is positive that policy makers understood our concerns and where rent controls are introduced in designated areas annual rent increases will be capped at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%, with a maximum annual increase of 6%.
Furthermore, exemptions for build to rent are welcome and it is encouraging that the Cabinet Secretary has committed to explore the possibility of regulations that would allow for rent increases in rent control areas where the rent has been held consistently below market rent or where there has been investment in improvements to the quality of the rented property.
We are also pleased that Scottish Ministers must conduct an impact assessment on the provisions of the Act on rural and island communities.
Consultation responses
Exemptions regime must be balanced and incentivise upgrades
Propertymark has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on how powers in the Housing (Scotland) Bill could be used to exempt properties from rent control, allow rents to rise above the cap in certain circumstances, and change the way joint tenancies are ended.
Strong message delivered on rental reform proposals
Propertymark continues to assert there is no advantage to introducing rent controls and urges Scottish Ministers to properly evaluate the evidence both from UK and across the world. Whilst formulating our response to the most recent engagement questionnaire we hosted a roundtable with members and Scottish Government officials where the strength of feeling from agents was clearly communicated.
Whilst we don’t agree with rent control, we are pleased that the Scottish Government listened to our concerns and amended the legislation so where rent controls are introduced in designated areas annual rent increases will be capped at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%, with a maximum annual increase of 6%.
We continue to make the case for a fairer tax regime for private landlords with the Scottish Government currently reviewing elements of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax as well as a level playing field for landlords against institutional investors. To this end, it is positive that the Cabinet Secretary has committed to explore the possibility of regulations that would allow for rent increases in rent control areas where the rent has been held consistently below market rent or where there has been investment in improvements to the quality of the rented property.
Related news
Housing (Scotland) Bill published
Introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 26 March 2024, the Bill sets out plans to make changes to the law, covering rent controls, tenants’ rights to keep pets and decorate their homes, and a mechanism to delay evictions under certain circumstances.
Housing Bill is unworkable in its current form
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, gave evidence to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee in the Scottish Parliament on 18 June 2024 as part of the stage one consideration of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Propertymark believes the Bill must be significantly amended before the Scottish Government’s policy objective to deliver safe, good quality, affordable homes for all can be achieved.
Strong message delivered on rental reform proposals
Propertymark continues to assert there is no advantage to introducing rent controls and urges Scottish Ministers to properly evaluate the evidence both from UK and across the world. Whilst formulating our response to the most recent engagement questionnaire we hosted a roundtable with members and Scottish Government officials where the strength of feeling from agents was clearly communicated.
Impact of tax changes on the private rented sector
Using survey data from Propertymark members, and other private and public sector organisations, this position paper highlights the detrimental impact that government decisions since 2015 have had on the tax and financial situation for landlords in the PRS.