Housing

Legislation to strengthen tenants’ rights and prevent homelessness has passed stage 1 in the Scottish Parliament. The Housing (Scotland) Bill aims to tackle poverty across Scotland by improving the renting experience for tenants, through a range of new rights and a system of rent controls, in

CEO of Scottish property portal ESPC, Paul Hilton, shares his thoughts on how the new UK government could help to bring about much-needed change in Scotland’s housing. While housing is a devolved matter, ESPC hopes that the promises made by Labour in the recent general election might help to b

Scotland's largest residential landlord, the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), has successfully defended a case brought under the Equality Act 2010 by housing charity Shelter Scotland. Michael Upton, of Themis Advocates, acted for the defenders.

A landlord who was ordered in his absence to pay £700 to a former tenant for an alleged breach of tenancy deposit regulations has successfully had the case remitted to the First-tier Tribunal for reconsideration. Graham Devine appealed to the Upper Tribunal for Scotland following an initial ap

Details of a proposed bill on housing will be published next week as part of a new 20-year route map for housing in the coming decades. Housing to 2040 – Scotland’s first long-term housing plan – aims to set the path for how homes and communities should look and feel in 2040.&

Enforcement of evictions from rented properties will be halted in Scotland for a six week period until mid-January. Regulations will be introduced that will prevent eviction orders being brought between 11 December and 22 January, with the exception of cases of serious anti-social behaviour.

RSB Lindsays is optimistic that housing demand will return to pre-lockdown levels once business resumes. The firm expects some 600 home viewings in Dundee when the Scottish government allows the market to reopen.

Neil Casey guides landlords through the emergency changes to housing legislation in Scotland. The Scottish Government has passed the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill, which will now become law. These emergency provisions are due to expire on 30 September 2020, although ministers have the power to ex

Council tenants facing eviction in West Dunbartonshire have been given temporary reprieve as it would be "morally wrong" to oust them during the coronavirus pandemic. The local authority was granted a motion yesterday at Dumbarton Sheriff Court to sist all summary cause eviction cases currently in p

Last weekend, the number of daily subscribers to our sister publication Scottish Housing News broke through 7,000 on the back of record website traffic for August with 69,209 unique visitors accessing the website. The number of Twitter followers for Scottish Housing News, which was established in 20

A BBC article published at the end of last month highlighted a recommendation made by lobbyist group Greenpeace to introduce a national agency to enforce building standards in Scotland. The organisation believes that a centralised compliance system is required to ensure building standards are met by

Legislation to support people who struggle to pay their fuel bills, targeting those who need help the most, has been passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. The Fuel Poverty Bill enshrines in law the Scottish government’s commitment to tackle the root causes of fuel poverty.

Steve Dougherty challenges the shortcomings of the current planning and regulatory system and asks if a quasi-free market approach would appeal to some prospective home-owners in Scotland. For over 30 years I’ve advised clients on all matters pertaining to commercial real estate and obser