Scottish Parliament election 2021: SAL manifesto summary

As we prepare to cast our votes in the Scottish Parliament election next week, members quite rightly might be thinking, “which political party will best support me as a landlord or letting agent business?”

We know that supporting private landlords is not a vote winner for politicians and they are more likely to use their manifestos to propose policies that hurt the sector. It is therefore no surprise to see that both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Greens are proposing radical reform to support private renters, by introducing rent controls and winter eviction bans, making it even more difficult for landlords to set rents and repossess their properties.

While the SNP can hardly be accused of being landlord friendly, they propose a new rented sector strategy and further rights for tenants. There seems to be broad consensus across the parties to regulate short-term lets. 

On taxation, most parties plan to keep income tax rates the same except the Scottish Conservatives who want to match the UK. On Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT), the SNP are proposing no change while the Conservatives are proposing an increase in the threshold for payment to £250,000. Both the SNP and the Conservatives promise a full-scale review of the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS).

Our summary gives you a quick overview of what the existing Scottish parliamentary parties promise for private renting in Scotland plus links to the full manifestos for you to consider in more detail.

So who will you vote for on 6 May?

Download manifesto summary