A Glasgow couple said they are getting evicted after refusing to accept a '45 percent rent increase' from their landlord. 

The pair, who live together and wish to remain anonymous, have claimed that they were told on Easter Monday that their landlord wanted them out, after they pointed out that a 45 percent rise is illegal. 

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One of the couple told the Glasgow Times: "Easter Sunday was absolutely ruined for us when we got the email from our landlady saying she was going to increase our rent by 45 percent.

"When we pointed out that was against legal guidelines that only made things worse because on Easter Monday she told us she wanted us out of the flat we have lived in for over a decade so her family member could use it instead."

He went on to say: "It's been absolutely awful ever since we received the news, I've been taking Kalms in hopes it will help with the stress. With both of us working full time, two months isn't a lot of time to find somewhere else.

"I feel like I can't even concentrate on anything anymore as I'm too worried about what's going to happen now."

Glasgow Times:

The landlord's decision comes after the rent cap, which was part of the Cost Of Living Act and ended on March 31.

The Scottish Government introduced the rent cap back in 2022, in a bid to help households throughout the cost of living crisis. It meant that landlords could not increase rent by more than three percent – or six percent in specific circumstances. 

Now, The Scottish Government have introduced new protections as of April 1, designed to limit rent rises. 

Under the new rules, tenants must still be given the normal three months’ notice of any rent rise - which could rise between three and six percent following the end of the cap. 

If the gap between the rent currently being paid and its value on the open market is more than 6 percent, the landlord will now be allowed to increase the rent to a maximum of 12 percent.

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But, plenty of people have flocked to X today to also claim that the 12 percent limit is not being followed by landlords. 

One person said: "Maximum Rent increase cap ended in Scotland yesterday, it was three percent. Daughter phoned in a panic today, her landlord wrote to her today to increase her rent by over 20 percent." 

Another said: "Rent of my flat has just been increased by 23 percent. That's right. 23 percent.

"Imagine this will be not too dissimilar across the rental sector following the end of the rent cap in Scotland."

A third added: "Happy April Fools! Unless you are a tenant in Scotland, in which case your unaffordable rent increase is real because the Scottish government has lifted the rent cap." 

Glasgow Times:

It comes after Shelter Scotland told the Glasgow Times today that people are "crying out for action." 

They continued: “Communities across Scotland are crying out for action from their politicians, so it’s time for the Scottish Government to deliver a plan that sets out exactly how it will deliver the homes we desperately need.

"What we need to tackle the systemic problems at the heart of the housing emergency is urgent action to deliver more social homes and meaningful investment in local homelessness services to stop councils breaking existing homelessness laws on an industrial scale."

Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie said: “Our emergency legislation led the way in the UK in capping most in-tenancy rent increases, protecting tenants across Scotland from the worst impacts of the cost-of-living crisis. The emergency nature of these measures meant they could not be extended beyond 31 March.

"Now, the system of checking rent rises, where a tenant thinks an increase is too high, has been adjusted helping to make sure increases are more manageable following the ending of the cap.

“Tenants also still have significant rights from before the emergency act, and we have published the Housing Bill which will create a New Deal for Tenants, including long-term rent controls.

“The Scottish Government has led the UK in housing by delivering more than 128,000 affordable homes since 2007, over 90,000 of which were for social rent, including over 24,000 council homes.

"We will invest £556 million in affordable housing in 2024-25, the majority of which will be for social rent.”

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