Rent controls and other sanctions in Scotland could have a knock-on effect for visitors to the world-famous Edinburgh Festival.

Worried agents and landlords have said that the proposed reforms by the Scottish Government could be significant.

The Scottish Government is due to enact legislation this autumn which will outlaw the ‘no fault’ ground for possession, meaning that landlords will no longer be able get their properties back simply because the agreed tenancy – no matter how short or long – has ended.

Landlords will effectively only be able to claim back their properties if they want to sell them, or live in them themselves.

The Scottish Government has also been consulting on rent controls.

David Alexander, managing director of agents DJ Alexander, said he fears that as a result of the reforms fewer flats will be available for short-term rent, amid concerns landlords will be forced to abandon the lucrative festivals market if they are banned from repossessing properties.

He warned this could push up prices as other landlords look to cash in on the lack of accommodation.

Alexander told The Scotsman: “In Edinburgh, many landlords who let out flats to student tenants for nine months then take a summer break, during which the property is let to festival-goers for a month.

“However, under the proposals being considered by the government, the tenant could simply turn around and say, ‘I have security of tenure, I like it here and I’m not moving’ and the landlord could do nothing about it.”

However, Adam Lang, head of communications and policy at Shelter Scotland, said: “That any letting agent should raise concerns about not being able to remove people from their homes so they can turn a high profit during the Edinburgh Festival season, shows exactly why reform of the private rented sector is badly needed.

“Despite the growing number of people – particularly families with children – now living in the private rented sector, it is all too often viewed as short-term housing and not the long-term homes Scotland desperately needs.

“The new tenancy proposals are aimed at rebalancing the relationship between tenant and landlord by improving the security of tenure for private renters while safeguarding the rights of lenders, investors and landlords.

“These proposals will help to make the sector fit for purpose and fair for all.”

Alyson Macdonald, of the Living Rent Campaign, said the market value of a rented flat in Edinburgh was hugely inflated during August because festival visitors will pay four or five times as much as tenants who live in the city all year round.

She said: “Rented properties are already very lucrative investments for landlords who don’t need the extra bonus of sky-high festival rents to make ends meet.”