THE cost of renting a property in Scotland has gone up since the law was toughened to crack down on extra fees being charged to tenants, according to a new survey.
Legislation was clarified in August 2012 to stop people from being forced to pay charges other than rent and a deposit. However, the first study of its kind by LSL Property Services suggests it has caused a rise in monthly rents, which now average £534.
It means tenants are paying an extra £26 a month rent on average than before the legislation was introduced. LSL said the increase, which came after around two years of stable prices, had been higher north of the border than in England and Wales.
Gordon Fowlis, regional managing director of Your Move, an estate agency chain that is part of LSL, said: "Tenancy fees were outlawed in Scotland with the well-meaning intention of protecting thousands of households reliant on rental accommodation. But we can see that in reality tenants are starkly out of pocket."
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