RENT controls are fundamental to building a fairer housing system in Scotland and must be enforced this year, Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman warned yesterday.

The average price of a one-bedroom property in Scotland is £710 per month, official statistics show, with two-bedroom properties averaging £893 per month.

As rents continue to climb, the Scottish Greens have urged the government to rethink proposed amendments to the Housing Bill that would entrench above-inflation rent hikes. 

Ms Chapman said: “The government’s current proposals for this Bill would enshrine perpetual rent increases into law, and undermine local authorities’ ability to protect tenants by preventing them from bringing rents down.

“Homes should be for living in, not for profiteering.

“If real rent control measures are not put in place, I am worried that we will see the housing emergency getting even worse, with tenants forced out of their homes.”

The Housing Bill, which initially proposed rent control areas, and limits on rent increases “promised protection for tenants, redefining housing as a human right,” Ms Chapman says.

“Any attempts to water down the Bill will undermine all of this.”