Prs

Landlords are abusing Airbnb-style "holiday let" contracts to evade their responsibilities to tenants, some of whom are staying in their properties for up to 10 months or more, according to a damning new report.

The independent chair of a commission tasked with tackling poverty in Edinburgh has called for the introduction of strict rent controls in the city. Dr Jim McCormick said that high housing costs has been singled out by the Edinburgh Poverty Commission as the biggest barrier to lifting people through

The Scottish Government is to create a £150 million national pilot scheme to provide support for first-time buyers and has also launched a consultation of short-term lets. Under the scheme, which will be launched later this year, buyers will be required to fund a minimum of 5% of the value of

Edinburgh property group Sigma has launched a new Scottish Government-backed fund to invest in Scotland’s private rented sector. The Sigma Scottish PRS Fund will have initial resources of £43 million, with £30m provided by the Scottish Government’s Building Scotland Fund in t

A housing investment fund set up last year by the Scottish Government and Places for People Group’s fund management arm has acquired its first two developments. Housing minister Kevin Stewart launched the multi-million pound investment last year to deliver mid-market rent homes across the coun

Estate agency Clyde Property has increased the coverage and diversity of its rental offering throughout central Scotland with the acquisition of the portfolios of property companies Gordon Shields and Wura Property. The incorporation takes Clyde Property’s letting portfolio to in excess of 3,0

Glasgow-based Newton Property Management has sold its lettings business to one of its senior executives. The family-owned business manages more than 500 homes on behalf of about 350 landlords in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government has published a consultation on adding new categories to the definition of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO). The consultation paper is seeking views on adding new categories to the definition of an HMO in relation to accommodation that contract and transient workers stay i

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has demanded “urgent action” from local authorities to tackle the shortage in accessible housing and has also joined a campaign to ban winter evictions. A motion calling for improved access to housing for disabled people was passed at t

After the case to prevent failed asylum seekers being evicted without a court order was dismissed by the Court of Session, our sister publication Scottish Legal News takes a considered look at the judgment.

Campaigners have raised fears over a fresh wave of asylum seeker evictions after a legal bid to prevent failed asylum seekers being evicted without a court order was dismissed by Scotland’s highest court. The case against the Home Office and its contractor Serco was launched in the name of two

The announcement by the UK Government that they will end no fault evictions is welcome news and long overdue and follows the path that already exists in Scotland, writes David Alexander. Scotland provides a model for the future direction that the Private Rented Sector (PRS) operates in England as it

Scottish Labour has condemned a lack of affordable homes and “rip-off” private rents it said are driving more families into poverty. The party’s analysis of Scottish Government data reveals that 20,000 children in the private rented sector were living in severe poverty during the t

Campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to support major changes to prevent tenants being “forced into poverty by sky-high rents” after a survey pointed towards huge public support for the action. Excluding respondents who said they don’t know, three-quarters of Scots sa

The rapid growth of short-term lets such as Airbnb has been a boon to tourists and landlords, yet it could lead to the misappropriation of housing stock and displacement of long-term residents from their communities if left unregulated, new analysis from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has