Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Provisions Extended
Private Sector Tenancy Update Following publication of the draft Regulations, our earlier blog discussed the expected continuation of the rent cap and eviction moratorium, which have been in place since October 2022. Last week, the Scottish Parliament passed the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 (Amendment of Expiry Dates and Rent Cap Modification) Regulations 2023 […]
Deadline for Repairing Standard Changes: 1 March 2024
In 2019 the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Modification of the Repairing Standard) Regulations 2019 took effect. See our earlier blog: Changes to the Repairing Standard for a summary of the changes that came in to force on 1 March 2019 Further changes are set to take effect on 1 March 2024. The following will become requirements of the Repairing […]
Private Sector Tenancy Update: Continuation of Rent Cap and Eviction Moratorium
Scottish Ministers have published the draft regulations which will extend the eviction moratorium in both the social and private rented sector to 30 September 2023. The Regulations can be found here. Landlords remain entitled to serve notice and raise eviction proceedings. The moratorium only delays the enforcement of eviction orders granted on particular grounds. There […]
Companies House Reforms – Verification of Directors and PSCs
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is progressing its way through Parliament and is at the report stage in the House of Lords. This Bill has been proposed to tackle money laundering in the UK, which is costing more than £100 billion each year. There are major changes coming to Companies House in terms of […]
Cost of Living (Scotland) Act – Expiry of Rent Cap for Social Landlords
The Scottish government have published (19/01/2022) the formal regulations which will lead to the expiry of the “rent cap” in the social rented sector. The Regulations can be found herehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2023/8/made This follows the announcement last week that it would be brought to an end after agreement was reached, following discussions between the government and the […]
Abandonment Proceedings
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (2001 Act) allows the landlord of a Scottish Secure Tenancy to recover an abandoned property without the need for court proceedings. Section 17, 18 and 19 of the 2001 Act deal with this procedure. The procedure can only be applied where the landlord has reasonable grounds for believing that: To ascertain if […]
Recovering Arrears from Joint Tenants of Scottish Secure Tenancies
Joint and Several Liability – what does it mean? If there are two or more joint tenants to a Scottish Secure Tenancy Agreement, they will be jointly and severally liable for all of that tenancy’s contractual obligations. What this means for the landlord is that it can hold either one or all of the tenants responsible for any arrears. In […]
Lifting the Ban on Evictions in Scotland
Since December 2020, the enforcement of eviction orders has been prohibited unless the order is based on the tenant’s antisocial behaviour or criminal activity. The ban applies in all areas which are within Tier 3 and Tier 4 of the Scottish “lockdown” levels. The majority of mainland Scotland moved to Tier 2 on 17 May […]
‘Notifiable Events’ Requirement for Charities
Charities may be aware that Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) are asking all charities to report Notifiable Events. Whilst there is no legal requirement to report an event, OSCR are keen to encourage charities to report to them when there has been a significant event which may or may not have a negative […]
Scottish Information Commissioner Report Shows Significant Increase in FOI Appeals
The Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) has recently published their 2021-22 report (which can be viewed here) noting a significant increase in FOI appeals within the past year. The appeals received during 2021-22 rose by 29% on the previous year, with an overall total of 626 appeals received throughout the year. So how exactly does the appeal […]
