JOHN Swinney has responded to The National's investigation into hundreds of landlords attempting to hike rents above government limits.
Last year, the Scottish Government introduced protections for tenants that blocked rents from being raised over 12% of the existing monthly cost – but only if the case was referred to Rent Service Scotland (RSS).
The National reported how out of 866 applications to RSS, from April 2024, in 490 cases (56.5%) landlords tried to push rents above 12%.
In one case, a tenant challenged an attempt to have their rent doubled from £700 to £1400. The final decision ruled rent would be £784 per month.
The protective measures ended on Tuesday, three years after the initial rent freeze was introduced.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie raised The National's investigation during First Minister's Questions, expressing fears around how landlords can now set rents back to uncontrolled free market levels.
He said: "For the first time in years, landlords will now have the power to instantly set rents back to uncontrolled free market levels. Tenants won’t be able to stop it and they won’t be able to afford it.
"Data from Generation Rent and Living Rent show that even when protections were in place, some landlords still tried to break the rules. In Glasgow, one landlord tried to double the rent from £700 to £1400. But until this week, thanks to the temporary rent protections I was proud to introduce, people like that could be stopped.
"So does the First Minister now understand why tenants across Scotland are so fearful about what he has done?"
Swinney responded to The National's probe, saying the Scottish Government is introducing a Housing Bill and rent controls to protect tenants.
He said: "There are two points I would make. First of all, there are opportunities for tenants to seek a review of a rent increase which they believe to be unacceptable and that has been exercised in one of the examples Patrick Harvie put to me and exercised with success.
The upcoming Housing Bill, which is currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament, does contain provisions for rent controls, but would only come into force in 2027.
Harvie said Swinney was being "complacent".
"There is nothing now holding back a tide of unaffordable rent rises and the Scottish Government hasn’t even published an assessment of the number of people going to lose their homes as a result," he went on.
"Rents are already too high in Scotland and with energy bills going up and social security under attack, people need a government here to be on their side."
Asked by Harvie if he would rethink taking away protections, Swinney replied: "The public can be assured they have got a government on their side.
"It is important we recognise there are strict legal processes that ensure private landlords and their agents must follow very strict rules about ending any tenancy. There are also the measures in place that enable tenants to seek a review of a rent increase."
NEW: Douglas Ross has been told off by the Presiding Officer for heckling John Swinney at FMQs. The First Minister was hitting out at what he called a "very odd" line of questioning from the Scottish Tories ... pic.twitter.com/bJ9ApPt4Mk
— The National (@ScotNational) April 3, 2025
Elsewhere at FMQs, former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross was told off by the Presiding Officer for heckling Swinney during what the First Minister branded a "very odd" line of questioning from the party.
Tory leader Russell Findlay went in on Donald Trump's new tariffs, saying they will cause “significant harm to many of our industries”.
He later said the Scottish Whisky Association was "worried" about the Scottish Government and whether it would help them.
He mentioned how the Scottish Government announced a USA export plan to identify the best opportunities for Scottish businesses in the US last year, but it was cancelled within months, before asking if Swinney would reverse this decision.
Swinney said the line of questioning was "bizarre" because the Conservatives "demand that the government close our international offices" which are "critical" for Scotland's success abroad.
He said the Scottish government would look at opportunities to promote Scottish products overseas and stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the industry.
Scottish Labour's depute leader Jackie Baillie stood in for Anas Sarwar, who is away in New York for Tartan Week.
She brought up the Scottish Government’s latest plan for the NHS and accused the SNP of making patients wait for a year for treatment - adding this is the “height of their ambition”.
Asking if the SNP had "broken" the NHS, Swinney pointed to additional funding for NHS boards in April 2024 to deliver 64,000 additional procedures and said 75,500 had actually been delivered by the end of January this year.
As the exchange went on, Swinney said he hears the same thing from Baillie every single week and said it is “not good enough” for her to “create the alarm” with her questioning.
He accused of dealing in "politics, politics, politics" and ignoring the facts about the NHS.
He highlighted that Scotland is treating more cancer patients on time within the 31 and 62-day standards than the same quarter five years ago.
