Today the Nationwide Foundation launched the findings of research on tenancy reform in Scotland, showing that changes to private rented sector (PRS) legislation have delivered improvements, but stronger measures to protect renters are still urgently needed.

This third and final wave of our five-year comprehensive RentBetter research project, completed by Indigo House, provides vital insights into the potential for forthcoming PRS changes in England and Scotland.

The research findings are essential for anyone keen to understand how similar changes proposed in the Renters' Rights Bill will affect the English PRS, or for anyone wanting to know how future legislation can ensure better regulation of the Scottish PRS.

You can find a summary of key findings here, the full report here, and further information here. We have promoted this on social media (X and Linkedin) this morning, and would welcome any additional promotion from you.

Key findings include: 

• Tenants are more confident than before that they'll be able to stay in their homes for as long as they want.
• The 2016 changes have not had undue negative effects on landlord perceptions or actions. Landlords are in general satisfied with the changes.
• Renters are being unlawfully removed from their homes through abuse of the new grounds for eviction – for at least one in five renters evicted by a landlord who said they intended to sell, the property was not ultimately sold.
• Despite having increased rights under the new tenancy system, tenants usually do not know about these rights or know how to use them, and there isn’t enough enforcement available to tenants.
• Legislation to date in Scotland has not improved affordability in the PRS. Rent stabilisation measures have had some positive impacts, but legislation has not delivered affordability as a whole, as advertised rents have continued to increase significantly. 

Indigo House will be hosting a webinar on 30 October at 2PM to dive further into the findings and answer any questions about the research. The webinar will be led by Anna Evans, Indigo House Director, and include guests Tom Darling of the Renter’s Reform Coalition and Susan Aktemel from the social letting agency Homes for Good. You can sign up here.