The Scottish Government introduced a moratorium on increases in rents for homes provided by social landlords and private landlords running from September 2022 until at least the end of March 2023.

The emergency provisions were replaced with agreements from social landlords to keep any rent increase for 2023-24 well below inflation. Under the agreement on social rents for 2023-24, COSLA has committed to keeping local authority rent increases to an average of no more than £5 a week. Members of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Glasgow West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations have reported planned increases averaging 6.1%.

The report from the Regulator is based on returns from 136 RSLs and the 29 local authorities that have housing stock and found that the average increases in weekly rent that social landlords will charge in 2023/24 is 5.07%, with the average for local authorities at 3.80% and for RSLs at 5.34%.

The report notes that average increases range from 0.00% to 8.00% for all social landlords with a median of 5.00%.

Tenants’ rights minister Patrick Harvie said he welcomed the “significant efforts” that social landlords have made to keep rents well below inflation for the next financial year.

He added: “Many people have been struggling financially as a result of the cost of living crisis, and rising inflation has meant that social landlords have had to focus on the cost of essential services. That’s why we took action to secure voluntary agreements with social landlords to keep rents as low as possible while allowing them to continue investing in services such as home improvements and maintenance.

“Social rents are already well below those in the private sector. These increases for next year, based on consultations with tenants, will ensure landlords can maintain a balance between affordability and sustainable investment in social housing for public good.”