By A landlord asked us this week: "Is the government about to cap my rent?" No, and hopefully it isn't close. Here's why the idea was shut down within days of being floated.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner ruled out rent controls in England on 24 July, pointing directly to Scotland as the reason why. Her words: "We've seen what's happened in areas like Scotland, it hasn't necessarily brought rents down."
Source: BBC News, "Angela Rayner rules out rent controls in England"
Scotland already tried this. It backfired badly.
Scotland ran an emergency rent cap from 2022 to 2025. It didn't lower rents. Rents on new lets rose by over seven percent in the year after the cap eased, one of the fastest increases in Great Britain, and newly agreed rents there have climbed faster over five years than the average. Faced with an artificial ceiling, landlords simply priced in the risk and raised rents between tenancies instead. Investment in the Scottish rental sector slowed at the same time. A policy sold as protecting tenants ended up squeezing them harder.
Why the government backed off
The evidence was too clear to ignore. Rayner said the Renters' Rights Act already does the job, without the damage a hard cap causes. Rent increases are limited to once a year through a proper Section 13 notice, and any tenant who thinks an increase is unfair can already challenge it at tribunal. That's real, targeted protection where it's needed, not a blanket cap that punishes every landlord for the actions of a few. This is the system you're operating under right now, and Scotland has already shown that the alternative doesn't work.