For over a decade, being a private landlord in Scotland has felt like being a participant in a long-term social experiment. As we move into 2026, the dust is finally settling on the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, a piece of legislation that was touted as a New Deal for tenants but has felt more like a Final Notice for many of my peers.

As a landlord who has stayed the course, I see 2025 as the year of the Great Recalibration. It was the year the Scottish Government finally moved past emergency sticking plaster fixes like the 2022 rent freeze and attempted to build a permanent, regulated framework. The result? A mixed bag of necessary modernisation, excessive bureaucracy, and a continued, fundamental misunderstanding of what actually drives the housing crisis.

The Silver Linings: Professionalism and Stability

It is rare for landlords to praise Holyrood, but there are positive takeaways from the 2025 reforms. The shift toward a more professionalised sector is a win for everyone. By tightening the rules on letting agent registration and introducing stricter penalties for rogue operators, the government is finally weeding out the accidental landlords who gave the rest of us a bad name.

Furthermore, the transition of old Assured and Short Assured tenancies into the Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) framework has provided much-needed clarity. Having one universal set of rules for all tenants makes management simpler. Even the new rules regarding pets and minor alterations - which initially caused panic in landlord forums - are manageable. Most of us already allowed a well-behaved dog or a lick of paint; formalising this (with the right to refuse on reasonable grounds) simply brings the law in line with common sense.

The Critique: Rent Controls and the Supply Death Spiral

However, the positive steps are overshadowed by the elephant in the room: Rent Control Areas (RCAs).

The 2025 Act gave local authorities the power to cap rent increases at CPI + 1% (up to a maximum of 6%). On paper, this sounds like stability, but in reality it is a blunt instrument that ignores the soaring costs of property maintenance, insurance, and the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS).

By capping rents even between tenancies, the government has removed the primary incentive for landlords to invest in their properties. Why spend £10,000 on a new kitchen if the law forbids you from adjusting the rent to reflect that value? We are already seeing the consequences: a two-tier market where supply in Edinburgh and Glasgow is plummeting as landlords either pivot to short-term lets or exit the market entirely, selling to owner-occupiers and further shrinking the rental pool.

The Looming EPC Cliff Edge

Then there is the Heat in Buildings Bill. The requirement for all private rentals to reach a minimum energy efficiency standard (likely EPC C) by 2028 is a noble goal, but the execution is a disaster.

The Scottish Government’s own research suggests upgrades for older tenements can cost upwards of £30,000. Without meaningful grants or interest-free loans, this isn’t policy - it’s an eviction notice for small-scale landlords. In 2025, we saw a surge in “For Sale” signs as owners of traditional sandstone flats realised they could never recoup the cost of retrofitting heat pumps or internal insulation under the current rent-cap regime.

Strong Options: The Path to a Functional Market

If the Scottish Government wants a rental sector that actually works in 2026 and beyond, it must move from a posture of punishment to one of partnership, and I would suggest three non-negotiable pivots:

(i) Investment-Linked Exemptions: Rent controls must not apply to landlords who have invested significantly in energy efficiency or property modernisation. If we take the risk to improve Scotland’s housing stock, we must be allowed to see a return.

(ii) A Grant Fund for Retrofitting: If the state mandates £30,000 in energy upgrades, it must provide the capital, and in particular grants for small-scale landlords to prevent a mass exodus of affordable, traditional homes.

(iii) End the Rhetoric of Villainy: Ministers must stop framing the private rented sector as the enemy. We provide homes for 340,000 households. Every time a politician uses landlord as a dirty word, another investor pulls their capital out of Scotland and moves it to the North of England or beyond.

2025 proved that you can regulate a market into submission, but you cannot regulate it into growth. We have enough rules, what we need now is the breathing room to actually house people.