Landlords found guilty of illegal evictions face up to two years in prison if Labour proposals become law in Scotland.

Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament Katy Clark – who is a former Labour MP in the Westminster Parliament – has put forward amendments to legislation now being discussed in Edinburgh and written by the governing Scottish National Party.

Clark tells the Daily Record newspaper in Scotland: “Illegal “evictions where rogue landlords force tenants out of their homes remain widespread in Scotland. The existing law does not give renters enough protection from this outrageous practice. It’s incredibly difficult for tenants to prove illegal evictions, which all too often allow rogue landlords to get away with forcibly evicting renters. 

“The penalties for this offence are also unbelievably lenient. There’s an urgent need to strengthen the law to increase the criminal sanctions for rogue landlords That has to include the possibility of lengthy jail sentences for the worst kinds of ‘slum’ landlords who forcibly evict vulnerable and poverty-stricken tenants.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for failing to strengthen the law to crack down on this abuse in the rental sector.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson told the newspaper: “Scottish Government amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill have been lodged which include increasing the penalty for wrongful termination, in line with the strengthened approach to unlawful eviction damages, and will act as a greater disincentive to landlords from engaging in this unlawful behaviour.

“A number of amendments have been lodged by MSPs at stage 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Bill and will be considered by the Local Government, Housing andPlanning Committee.”