The party's over: How private residential landlords are experiencing a changing policy and financial environment in Scotland

The private rented sector provides housing to a large proportion of European households. Within Europe, however, the nature and experience of the PRS in different countries is diverse. Private landlords in the UK experienced a boom period between 1997 and 2007. Hundreds of thousands of new investors were drawn to the private rented sector (PRS) by the availablity of mortgage finance and the combination of rental returns and capital growth. This ‘golden decade’ was brought to an end by the global financial crisis. However, the same crisis greatly reduced the affordability of home ownership as lending criteria tightened. The result was that the PRS continued to grow as a proportion of all housing provision. Private landlords in Scotland have been affected by policy and legislation from both the UK government in Westminster and the Scottish government in Holyrood. From both directions there have been decisions made and policies implemented which have reduced the attractiveness of the PRS as an investment. The paper uses qualitative interview data to give voice to the perceptions and attitudes of a cohort of private landlords with current PRS investments in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland.