Category: Legislation

Scotland’s Housing Emergency – What Happens Next?

For the Scottish Government, declaring a housing emergency was perhaps inevitable, with local authority after local authority finding themselves with no other option but to declare that they could not meet their housing obligations, and more still declaring this after the Government’s announcement. But what to do now? That seems to be the question on …

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Housing Bill (Part 2)

Following on from last month’s blog on the proposed rent control provisions in the Housing Bill, this month’s blog looks at the some of the other aspects in the Bill that directly affect the Private Rented Sector. The order they appear, follows the order they appear in the Bill rather than any particular order of …

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Domestic abuse – An Issue for the Whole Rented Sector

Whilst John Swinney settles into his post as First Minister, many in the housing sector consider how they can reset relations with the SNP government, and what the new administration will do with the contested Housing Bill, there remains one area within the proposed new statute that should be scaled up, rather than scaled back. …

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Tenement Law: Compulsory Owner’s Associations

The Scottish Law Commission recently published a discussion paper containing provisional proposals for the introduction of owners’ associations. The paper runs to over 200 pages and follows a recommendation in 2018 that establishing owners associations could help improve the condition of tenements throughout Scotland. Landlords should note that a ‘tenement’ includes any building made up …

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Scottish Government’s Housing Bill a ‘Continued Quest for Rent Control’, Propertymark Argues

Building upon the Scottish Government’s 2021 New Deal for Tenants, which is an essential component of their Housing to 2040 strategy, the Housing (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 26 March 2024 and will likely take between 12 and 15 months to complete all stages of the legislative process. The passage of …

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STLs and Letting Agent Code of Practice

The Upper Tribunal (UT) recently considered whether the Letting Agent Code of Practice (“the Code”) applies in respect of short-terms lets. The background A landlord instructed a letting agent to let her flat for a period over summer 2022. A dispute arose resulting in the landlord making an application to the FTT alleging that the …

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