Ministers are being urged to balance the needs of tenants and their landlords ahead of new legislation covering private rented housing.
Groups representing landlords and letting agents met with Scottish housing and welfare minister Margaret Burgess to press her to reject rent controls and keep controversial 'no fault' clauses in leases which some want abolished to give tenants more security.
However the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) and Council of Letting Agents (CLA) said more security and improved standards could be achieved for tenants using measures such as longer tenancies and legal notice periods.
The Scottish Government has been consulting on the issue with new legislation expected to be brought before the Scottish Parliament in the Autumn. It proposes to give tenants the chance to take unjustified rent increases to arbitration and wants to abolish the current 'no fault' repossession clause, which allows landlords to repossess a property at the end of a rental period, without tenants having done anything wrong.
SAL and CLA said some of the measures being considered were counterproductive and it was important to protect owners' investments. They gave the minister a petition of over 3500 signatures urging the Government and MSPs to balance the need to protect tenants with supporting investment in the private rented sector to tackle Scotland's growing housing crisis.
John Blackwood, Chief Executive of SAL said: "There is a surprising amount of consensus between landlords and letting agents, housing charities and the Scottish Government about the need to balance the provision of security of tenure for tenants whilst, at the same time, ensuring the private rented sector in Scotland can grow and flourish."
"There is also agreement that the private rented sector has a crucial role to play in tackling Scotland's housing crisis, alongside additional house-building and an increase in social housing provision."
"As an industry, we fully support measures which will help find this balance but do not believe measures like rent controls or ending the 'no fault' clause will achieve this. We would urge the Scottish Government to reconsider additional protections for tenants without harming investment in the private rented sector."
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