This week may be remembered in history as the point where the Conservatives finally began their comeback in Scotland. Ruth Davidson told the party conference that Scottish Labour was dead and no longer held the centre ground and that the Conservatives were now Scotland’s centre-left party. Cleverly she did not position the party in direct competition with the SNP for constituency seats but instead asked voters to choose the Conservative and Unionist Party for their list seat. A sentiment mirrored by David Cameron and assisted by the Secretary of State for Scotland by offering to bring forward tax varying powers, allowing the Scottish party to run a pro-business, low-tax campaign.
Housing however has been the issue that has dominated Scottish politics this week with revelations that SNP MSP Michelle Thompson was under police investigation for alleged “irregularities relating to property deals” after her solicitor had been struck off for misconduct. Whether the party’s Business spokesperson was involved in mortgage fraud or not remains to be seen but the allegations did reveal her business practices to be a little unethical to say the least. Leading to her resignation from the party whip and, as a result, her membership being suspended.
At a time where you would assume the Scottish Government would like to avoid the housing topic it did the opposite. As I was recovering from an Orbit-sponsored drinks reception at the Scottish Resources Conference in Glasgow the Scottish Government launched its Private Tenancies (Scotland) Bill. The basic principle of the bill is to increase standards and protect tenants in the private rented sector. Which seems hard to argue with even suffering the after effects of an evening at a free bar. However there are several concerns with the bill as it stands.
While the private rented sector is in need of modernising there is a concern particularly among landlords that these new measures may harm investment in the sector. This is particularly important when the Scottish Government launched the bill as part of a campaign to combat the national housing crisis, an area where the Private Rented Sector see themselves as playing a key role.
So why might this have a detrimental effect on investment?
The introduction of rent controls as a result of political pressure to tackle the rent rises in places like Edinburgh and Aberdeen could in fact damage the confidence of investors. Landlords have already raised concerns over fears this may drive them out of the market.
The right to allow a tenancy to come to a natural end, after a reasonable notice period has been something which has been used to tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour in the past is to be removed. Some rent their properties to students during the academic term and then rent to tourists over the holiday period so there are concerns this might discourage Landlords from renting to students out of fear they may not leave the property at the end of the academic year. So, whether it is on a personal level or legislative level, housing is a topic likely to continue to dominate the headlines in Scotland in the build-up to the Holyrood elections in May 2015.