Category: Legal

What does the Collapse of the Bute House Agreement mean for the Housing Sector?

They say 24 hours is a long time in politics, an adage that has never been truer for Scottish politics than in the last week of April 2024. The dismay with missed climate targets moved quickly from sabre rattling and a threatened members vote in the Green party to an unceremoniously sacking of the two …

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Housing (Scotland) Bill: Rent Controls

The much anticipated first draft of the Housing Bill (the Bill) which (when/if passed will become the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025) was published by the Scottish Government on 26 March 2024. As with all bills the wording of some can change and provisions can be added or removed as it goes through the various stages …

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The End of the Cost Of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022

As explained in previous blogs, the temporary changes introduced by the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 on 31 October 2022 ended on 31 March 2024. So, whilst new rules come into play for adjudicating rent disputes, the end of the 2022 Act also means the expiry of the provisions that relate to …

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Scottish Government Must End Housing Emergency, Propertymark Argues   

The Scottish Government must bring the country’s housing emergency to an end, Propertymark argues. Despite pledges from Holyrood to invest £400,000 to ensure that many of Scotland’s empty homes come back into use, Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin urged the nation’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, to produce a statement on Scotland’s housing emergency by the …

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A Practical Approach to the Repairing Standard

The Repairing Standard is in place to ensure that the property or properties of private landlords meet the minimum physical standard of repair. The recent updates, enforceable since 1st March 2024, introduced changes concerning the common areas of tenement buildings, requiring collaboration and consent amongst owners to implement. This includes ensuring safe access to common …

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Heritable Creditors and the Repairing Standard

In a recent decision of the Upper Tribunal, which reversed a decision of the First-tier Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal judge decided that a heritable creditor, who had not yet entered into possession of a property with sitting tenants could not be a ‘landlord’ for the purpose of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) …

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