"The continued decline in the number of BtR schemes starting on site reflects that persistent policy uncertainty, especially around rent controls, continues to have a damaging impact upon investor confidence in Scottish BtR"
- David Melhuish - Scottish Property Federation
New data from the Scottish Property Federation (SPF) and Savills shows a 15% drop in Build-to-Rent (BtR) homes under construction in Scotland, raising fresh concerns about the sector’s long-term viability.
In Q2 2025, just 2,101 BtR units were under construction, down from 2,472 in the same quarter of the previous year. This marks another consecutive decline in project starts, continuing a broader trend that the SPF says threatens to exhaust the current delivery pipeline.
Although the Scottish Government has recently signalled a more positive tone toward residential investment, including BtR, the SPF argues that persistent uncertainty around rent control policy is continuing to dampen investor sentiment. As a result, more schemes are reaching completion than are beginning, and the number of new starts has failed to keep pace with the demand for professionally managed rental housing.
Despite completions increasing by 16% year-on-year in Q2 2025, this is not viewed as a sign of sectoral health. Rather, the imbalance between completions and new starts highlights the risk of stagnation in the near future.
In particular, the SPF points to the 11,103 BtR homes that remain stalled in planning, noting that these units have yet to translate into active construction. The Federation has described this as clear evidence of the chilling effect of rent control proposals on forward investment decisions.
David Melhuish, director at the Scottish Property Federation, commented: “The continued decline in the number of BtR schemes starting on site reflects that persistent policy uncertainty, especially around rent controls, continues to have a damaging impact upon investor confidence in Scottish BtR.
“On this trajectory Scotland will soon exhaust the pipeline of new BtR developments, as completions continue to exceed commencements,” Melhuish continued. “To restore investor confidence and to kick start new supply of rental homes, we are calling as part of our response to the Scottish Government’s recent Housing consultation, for Built to Rent/Mid-Market rent to be granted an exemption from rent controls across Scotland.”
The SPF’s call for exemption forms part of its formal response to the Housing (Scotland) Bill consultation, which includes provisions allowing certain property types to be excluded from rent control measures.
According to the SPF, both investor confidence and long-term rental housing delivery depend on regulatory clarity. Without intervention, the Federation warns that the Build-to-Rent sector in Scotland faces an extended slowdown in the development pipeline.
