Deregulated private renting: A decade of change in Scotland

Abstract

Efforts to stimulate reinvestment in the private rented sector in Britain began in the late 1980s. It suited the Conservative government to label these changes as ‘deregulation’ although they were more complex than this term implies. This article provides evidence of the impacts of the changes in Scotland. It emphasizes the need to examine the impacts on different groups within the private rented sector. In particular, deregulation tended to favour those able to pay market rents, while increased restrictions on housing benefits meant that the ability of low-income households to afford private rented accommodation was reduced. Other groups, such as those in tied accommodation or on regulated tenancies, were largely unaffetted by the changes. In response to deregulation, there has been a significant increase in the flow of lets at the upper end of the market (self-contained flats and houses) while rents for this type of accommodation have barely risen. At the lower end of the market (shared accommodation), the flow of lets has increased only marginally or not at all. Landlords also appear to have become more reluctant to house low-income tenants. The article uses a database compiled from advertisements for private rented accommodation appearing in newspapers and property guides in the period 1987 to 1996.