New 20 year housing strategy paper published
Following a public consultation and engagement with key stakeholder groups, the Scottish Government has published a paper setting out its strategy for housing policy over the next 20 years. The paper sets out the government’s vision for all tenures of housing; owner occupied and social rented sector housing as well the private rented sector.
For the private rented sector the government’s main intentions are as follows:
- to reform existing Rent Pressure Zone legislation to ensure local authorities combat unreasonably high rents in localised areas;
- to put in place mechanisms to collect robust data on the Scottish private rented sector;
- to introduce pre-action protocols on a permanent basis in the private rented sector, requiring landlords to work with tenants prior to taking eviction action;
- to ensure that joint tenants experiencing domestic abuse can end a joint tenancy in the private rented sector and, where appropriate, can remain in the family home as a sole tenant;
- to review and consider potential reforms to the current grounds for repossession under the Private Residential Tenancy, assessing what is the correct balance between maintaining tenancies wherever possible and landlords’ rights;
- to review the existing registration and regulation regimes within the private rented sector and consult on any proposals to strengthen them where needed;
- to bring forward regulations requiring private rented sector properties to achieve an equivalent of EPC C by 2028 (exemptions will apply for properties where this is not technically feasible or not cost effective)
The full wording of the strategy can be read here.
The government has committed to working with stakeholder groups, including SAL, in implementing their proposals and we will keep members updated as always with any developments and opportunities for members to have their say.
