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Shelter Cymru – Lessons from Scotland

Jennie Bibbings reflects on reforms to private renting north of the border.

It’s been around a year since Scotland introduced a number of radical reforms to the private rented sector, including secure tenancies and a specialist tribunal.

Many lessons are emerging for Wales. Here are some learning points gathered from Shelter Scotland’s March 2019 PRS conference:

  • There’s a strong sense of pride in the new legislation and a feeling that they have done the right thing by tenants. There’s no room for complacency, however. Everyone agrees that passing legislation is just the first step: time and effort is needed to make new laws work for people. Although it’s too early to assess impacts, there’s a suspicion that some landlords may be manipulating the grounds for possession, for example by falsely claiming they intend to sell.
  • The new First Tier Tribunal was swamped with applications in its first year – 700 were anticipated and more than 3,000 were received. As well as dealing with possessions the tribunal covers the Repairing Standard and tenancy deposit disputes. Legal Aid is available to fund representation. There is no fee to use the tribunal, not even when the bailiffs are called. Contrast this with a £325 court fee for possessions in Wales and England.
  • Some Scottish letting agents have been very resourceful in dodging the ban on letting fees to tenants, even going so far as to set up subsidiary companies to ‘help’ tenants carry out credit checks and referencing – all for a fee of course. Some others have blatantly disregarded the legislation and continue to charge. Robust enforcement is essential.
  • The Scottish legislation included giving councils power to introduce Rent Pressure Zones to control local markets with runaway rent inflation. But the way the Act is worded makes it really tough for councils to provide the required level of proof. Rent regulation needs good data – a rent register, so that rents on individual properties can be tracked over time.
  • Private renters were able to influence the legislation through initiatives such as Shelter Scotland’s private tenant forum. However, getting a range of tenants’ voices, not just the loud middle-class tenants, is a challenge and needs a variety of approaches. Private tenant involvement needs to be resourced.

Few people at the conference were aware of the progress we’ve made to improve the Welsh private rented sector. Delegates were surprised and impressed to hear that all landlords in Wales must have training. This goes further than any other UK nation. We can be proud of our achievements in Wales too.

Jennie Bibbings is campaigns manager at Shelter Cymru.


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