PROPERTY experts are warning of a potential housing crisis for those living and working in Scotland’s rural areas.

According to estate agents Bell Ingram, countryside living may become impossible for many because of significant increases in the costs of maintaining rental property, coupled with the sheer lack of available rental homes.

The introduction of legislation around maintenance and testing standards, energy efficiency and the new Private Rented Tenancy (PRT) have all coincided with a depletion in rental property numbers in rural Scotland. While these new regulations have provided greater security for tenants themselves, they are driving up costs for landlords – which estate agents believe could leave the countryside property landscape looking bleak.

Bell Ingram's Catherine Smith said: “Despite the obvious positives that have come from stricter legislation around renting property privately, it may leave the rural areas of Scotland worse off in the long run. There is an ongoing requirement for people to live and work in the countryside and a greater need for rental property than ever in the current housing climate.

"The PRT has reduced the flexibility of rental property, which is absolutely key for some farms and estates that require homes for employees," said Ms Smith. “Another pressing problem for rural rentals is the upcoming changes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) standards. Although staggered, from March 2025, all let properties must have a minimum rating of band D, which will almost certainly require work to most, if not all traditional rural properties.”

Other options instead of renting out a property could include selling or diversifying to a holiday home but both of these options would deprive the countryside of locally-based individuals to drive the economy and may not suit estate or farm owners, she said.

“There is no one option that will work for all estates or farms and a full assessment of the surplus residential properties should be completed before making any decisions on the best way to move forward," advised Ms Smith.

“We’re still yet to understand the full implications of changing EPC standards too. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to improve the housing anyway; it protects and maintains for the future but can be challenging when imposed with a deadline for completion."