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In this edition of View from鈥� we hear from Robin Blacklock, Managing Director of Dowbrae real estate consultancy, member of the ARL Scottish Hub and Director of 鈥楳ore Homes More Quickly, who shares his latest insights on the Housing (Scotland) Bill. 听

In the midst of the fallout from the introduction of the Housing (Scotland) Bill last summer, a prominent member of the opposition asked a really simple question: 鈥淲hat does the industry actually want from Scottish Government?鈥�

Expecting a wish-list of funding and finance favours and proposals around planning and policy, I canvassed opinion among BTR investors, developers, and operators.

The overwhelming response? Just two requests: firstly, sort out the Housing Bill; and secondly – respectfully – leave us alone. Please.

I took more than a little pleasure in adopting this approach, and as we near the anniversary of that exchange, it鈥檚 worth asking: has government listened?

April 2025 finds Scotland鈥檚 housing legislation at a critical waypoint. After years of emergency twists and legislative turns, the Housing (Scotland) Bill is on a path towards completion. Stage 2 scrutiny – covering nearly 500 amendments – should conclude in June, with the final Stage 3 vote expected in the autumn. Yet as with any complex process, 鈥渃ompletion鈥� is a relative term. The Bill is a framework with the operational detail set through secondary legislation, likely stretching towards the turn of the year.

The Bill鈥檚 headline aims are to formalise rent regulation and tighten homelessness prevention duties. Rent control has dominated debate. Local authorities will be obligated to assess rental markets and apply for 鈥淩ent Control Area鈥� designations, capping rent increases – during and between tenancies – at CPI +1%, up to a maximum of 6%.

A consultation launched in April proposes exemptions for Build to Rent (including Single Family Rental) and Mid-Market Rent schemes, alongside sensible carve-outs for properties let below market value or significantly upgraded or improved. It鈥檚 a pragmatic, if belated, recognition that investment won鈥檛 flow into a market shackled by restrictive controls. Industry must now ensure these proposals survive the political debate to come, and collective input is imperative.

Meanwhile, a new Programme for Government has been brought forward by four months to 6 May – exactly a year out from the next Scottish elections. It will signal an attempt by the SNP to reassert economic competence and legislative momentum.

Alongside this, the Housing Investment Taskforce will report imminently, offering practical recommendations to reverse Scotland鈥檚 declining housing completions. Whether the government embraces these solutions with urgency, or simply gestures support while the legislative wheels grind on, remains to be seen.

Despite recent history, there is reason for optimism. Cross-party consensus on key elements of the Bill suggests that, for once, pragmatism may prevail. If matters conclude as currently calculated, there is reasonable ground to claim that the Housing Bill has been sorted.

Will industry be granted its wish to be left alone? Perhaps. This debate has laid bare the fault lines between political posturing and pragmatic solutions; between vote-winning popular policies and practical politics that fix problems. If the sector is spared further interference, it will owe as much to the politics of politics as the practicalities of problem-solving.