Scotland’s Experiment Doesn’t Change Reality of Rent Controls
22 August 2024
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IEA research referenced in The Scotsman
Rent Control: Does it work?, new IEA research by Dr Konstantin A. Kholodilin analysing academic literature on rent controls spanning 196 publications, six decades, and over 100 countries, has been referenced in a Scotsman op-ed warning about the risks of imposing new rent controls in Scotland.
The article said:
“The Housing Scotland Bill has recently been dealt what surely must be a terminal blow. The bill, which is continuing to make its way through Holyrood, has a proposal to introduce rent controls in specific areas for periods of up to five years.
“A paper has just been published by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) which examined almost 200 studies covering a period of 60 years into the impact of rent controls. Their conclusion is that they have never worked in any country where they were introduced and have always made things worse. The IEA paper found that rent controls increase prices, reduce the number of properties available and decrease the quality of housing. Investment in housing falls, resulting in greater demand and higher rents.
“The number of homes in the private rented sector fell by 60,000 in Scotland in the year following the introduction of rent controls in 2021.”
Read the full piece in The Scotsman (22/08/2024, p.49).
The paper was also featured in Edinburgh Evening News, Property Industry Eye, Letting Agent Today, the Knight Frank Blog, and The Housing Quality Network
You can also read a full copy of Rent Control: Does it work?.
The article said:
“The Housing Scotland Bill has recently been dealt what surely must be a terminal blow. The bill, which is continuing to make its way through Holyrood, has a proposal to introduce rent controls in specific areas for periods of up to five years.
“A paper has just been published by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) which examined almost 200 studies covering a period of 60 years into the impact of rent controls. Their conclusion is that they have never worked in any country where they were introduced and have always made things worse. The IEA paper found that rent controls increase prices, reduce the number of properties available and decrease the quality of housing. Investment in housing falls, resulting in greater demand and higher rents.
“The number of homes in the private rented sector fell by 60,000 in Scotland in the year following the introduction of rent controls in 2021.”
Read the full piece in The Scotsman (22/08/2024, p.49).
The paper was also featured in Edinburgh Evening News, Property Industry Eye, Letting Agent Today, the Knight Frank Blog, and The Housing Quality Network
You can also read a full copy of Rent Control: Does it work?.
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