What does Scotland's new Housing Bill mean for renters and landlords?

The Scottish Government’s new Housing Bill enters the final stage of its journey through Parliament on Tuesday.

The legislation is intended to introduce a long-term system of rent controls in Scotland and strengthen tenants’ rights.

Scottish housing secretary Màiri McAllan has described the Bill as the “gold standard” for homelessness prevention.

What will the Bill accomplish?

In its current form, the Scottish Housing Bill would allow councils to designate rent control areas, capping cost increases at inflation plus one percentage point.

It includes measures for relevant public bodies, like local authorities, to ask about a person’s housing situation and take action to prevent them from losing their homes.

The Bill will also help Scotland follow in the UK’s footsteps to implement “Awaab’s Law”, which is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died in 2020 after being exposed to mould in his home in Rochdale.

In the wake of his death, the UK introduced a law to provide greater protection against mould and damp for tenants. The Scottish Government intends to do the same through the Housing Bill.

Awaab’s Law would ensure social landlords have to investigate and fix dangerous damp and mould within a set amount of time.

Scottish Government amendments would also extend the time tenants have to request a rent adjudication from an officer from 21 to 30 days.

A Scottish Greens amendment would also make it easier for people in privately rented properties to keep pets and service animals.

Currently, if a renter wants to keep a pet, they must make a request to their landlord, who then has 42 days to respond. Proposals by the Greens would reduce the response time to 14 days, and allow tenants to take no response at all from landlords as permission.

Amendments to the bill would also change the penalties landlords can be ordered to pay for wrongfully ending a private tenancy and change the process for determining damages for an unlawful eviction.

‘This bill will go further to protect people of Scotland’

The housing secretary said Scotland already has “some of the strongest homeless rights in the world”, but McAllan said the Bill will go even further to protect and support people threatened with homelessness.

“The actions we have taken in just the past month demonstrate our determination to tackle the housing emergency,” McAllan said.

“A few weeks ago, I published an Action Plan backed by up to nearly £5bn and including a major affordable house building programme.

“This week we are set to pass ground-breaking legislation to prevent homelessness, improve standards in rental homes and keep rents affordable for tenants.”

However, McAllan and the Scottish Government have been branded “cowardly” over rent control exemptions.

It emerged earlier this week that the housing secretary decided to exempt mid-market rent (MMR) and build-to-rent (BtR) properties from the rent controls in the Housing Bill.

The move has been criticised by both the tenants’ union Living Rent and by the Scottish Greens, who helped to shape the bill before it was proposed.

An open letter released by Living Rent urged the Housing Secretary to reconsider.

Scotland

Scottish Government branded ‘cowardly’ over rent control exemptions

Proposed legislation allowing councils to designate rent control areas would exempt mid-market rent and build-to-rent properties.

McAllan said her decision was based on the need for housing.

“We need more houses,” she said. “The reason I took that decision is because it was based entirely on investment and investment leading to new stock.”

What happens next?

The Housing Bill will be considered line-by-line in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday when almost 400 amendments are expected to be put to MSPs.

The session is expected to run into the night.

The Legislation will be debated again on Wednesday before the final vote.

Despite the number of amendments proposed by the Greens, it is understood they will back the legislation, meaning – barring an SNP rebellion – the Bill will be passed.

McAllan said: “This will be a landmark Bill and I hope colleagues from across parliament can come together to ensure it is passed at the end of the Stage 3 proceedings.”

The Scottish Tories are likely to vote against the legislation, with the party’s housing spokeswoman, Meghan Gallacher, describing the rent control provisions as “reckless”.

“Making this botched measure permanent will drive away investors, slash the available housing stock for tenants and cost the sector billions,” she said.