Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

The Housing (Scotland) Bill, which the Scottish Parliament has been considering since March 2024, has now received Royal Assent which means that it is now law. However, the provisions in the Act will not come into force for some time yet. Most will require further legislation, to firm up the details of how they will operate, before they can be implemented. Implementation dates for most measures are likely to be at least a year or two from now.

As a reminder, the Act contains a number of provisions which will make changes to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) including long-term rent controls which will apply within Rent Control Areas (RCAs) designated by the government, greater rights for tenants to personalise their home, obtain permission for a pet and end a joint tenancy where there is disagreement between the tenants about ending the lease. It also makes provision for the government to introduce further legislation in the future to convert older assured and short-assured tenancies in to private residential tenancies.

SAL will be involved in detailed discussions with the government and other stakeholders about the wording of secondary legislation, guidance and template documents required for the provisions to come into force and we will keep members updated with progress.

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