Private sector tenants who dispute their rent rises will be able to apply for protection under new rules to be approved by MSPs.

The rent adjudication scheme will start in April where tenants can ask a tribunal to set their rent if they can show the landlord is asking for too much.

The Scottish Government rent cap will end in April and the adjudication scheme will be amended for a year.

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It means where a rent rise is disputed the First Tier Tribunal or Rent Service Scotland can set the rent on the lowest of three measures.

Either the open market rate, the rent requested by the landlord or “a comparator based on the difference between the market rate and current rent”.

Patrick Harvie, tenants’ rights minister said the changes will continue to protect tenants.

He said: “Our emergency legislation has led the way in the UK in capping in-tenancy rent increases, protecting tenants across Scotland from the worst impacts of the cost-of-living crisis. However, Parliament set a final deadline for these temporary protections to come to an end from 1 April 2024.

“From 1 April we are proposing temporary changes to the way rents are decided when tenants challenge a rent increase to provide a level of protection for private tenants which remains far greater than anywhere else in the UK. It will also enable landlords to react to an increase in costs and reinvest in our private rented sector.

“At the same time, we are committed to bringing in a long-term system of rent controls and creating new rights for tenants through our forthcoming Housing Bill.”