The lettings and estate agency said that the announcement by housing secretary Màiri McAllan that she is working on a plan to address Scotland’s housing emergency is welcome, but must involve a substantial change in approach to the PRS and across all parts of the housing sector.

Ms McAllan recently said: “I can’t tell you today exactly what my plan is, but I do intend to set out a plan as soon as I can.”

She did say that there was insufficient money to dramatically increase housebuilding levels, which have fallen to a thirteen-year low. She also said that she would act on stalled developments, which she calls an “untapped area,” and she said the Scottish Government is “brokering” those issues with developers to “unlock tens of thousands of houses”.

For DJ Alexander, one of the reasons for these stalled developments is continued uncertainty over the Scottish Government’s direction on the private rented sector. The Housing Bill still contains proposals to introduce rent controls despite proof from the government’s own data, which shows that this policy has actually resulted in greater costs for tenants, the firm added.

The lettings and estate agency highlighted recent statistics which revealed that the Scottish Government’s intervention in the PRS - through its Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act 2022 which introduced temporary rent controls - resulted in rents rising at a faster rate in two years than they had in the preceding twelve.

Between 2010 and 2022, average rent rises across Scotland for one, two, three and four-bedroom properties were up 31.2%; 32.9%; 34.5%; and 55.6% respectively over a twelve-year period when inflation was 36.1%. This was a rise of £138; £182; £232; and £523 respectively across one to four-bedroom properties.

In the following two years between 2022 and 2024, average rents increased by £130; £157; £230; and £333 for one, two, three and four-bedroom properties. This means that in cash terms rents rose in two years at almost the same level that they did over twelve years for one-bedroom properties and were similarly close for two and three-bedroom properties.

David Alexander, the chief executive officer of DJ Alexander Scotland, said: “These figures highlight just how destructive the Scottish Government’s intervention into the PRS was between 2022 and 2024. Tenants, who had been told that a rent cap would result in lower rents, have actually experienced increases almost equivalent to rises over the previous twelve years.”

“This is unmistakable evidence that interfering in the operation of a market is fraught with problems and produces unintended consequences. Politicians intervene in markets at their peril.

“The additional outcome has been a freezing of property investment, falling housebuilding levels, with money which had been intended to be invested in Scotland to build more properties being transferred to other parts of the UK where there is greater political and financial certainty.”

“If Ms McAllan is to make an impact on the staggering levels of housing need in Scotland, then she must embrace the private rented sector. She should not interfere in the market with rent controls and should be encouraging greater investment through policies which encourage growth over the long-term by clearly supporting a benign approach to the PRS which has hitherto been missing.”

David added: “There is an opportunity for the new housing secretary to put in place a ten-year plan to address Scotland’s enormous housing problems. More housebuilding, more involvement and encouragement of the private rented sector, more social housing, and a plan that ensures there are substantially more homes available in the future.

“With 250,000 people on the social housing waiting list, 10,000 children in temporary housing, and a private rented sector which has been experiencing unprecedented demand there is an immediate need for clarity and action. But this needs to start straight away, with the widespread involvement of all interested parties, and a strategy that looks beyond a single electoral cycle. Only by doing this immediately will there be any impact upon Scotland’s current housing difficulties.”