Social landlords will regularly be faced with anti-social behaviour (ASB) by tenants. This article outlines some options to tackle ASB, where internal policies have been exhausted and there has been no improvement in the tenant’s behaviour.  

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO)

An Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) is a preventative measure that can be taken to stop a tenant from behaving anti-socially.

You can raise a Summary Application for an ASBO against anyone over the age of 12. An ASBO is a Civil Order granted by

On 1^st November 2023 the Scottish Government published its proposals to reform external wall cladding and improve fire safety in blocks of flats which measure or exceed 11 metres in height. The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee invited views from the public through a Consultation. This recently closed and the Bill has progressed to Stage 2. A meeting is scheduled for 23^rd April 2024 to discuss proposed amendments. The Scottish Government’s stated ambition post Grenfell is to bring forward legislation to “reduce

Are you a charity? Are you aware of the changes which are coming into force as of 1 April 2024?

As from 1 April 2024, various elements of the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 will be coming into force and will include:

• OSCR’s increased inquiry powers;
• OSCR being able to remove charities that fail to submit accounts and fail to communicate with OSCR; and
• OSCR refusing a charitable application where there is no clear connection to Scotland.

 A brief summary of these

On 13 February the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) published its new Regulatory Framework which will apply from 1 April this year. The new Framework’s publication follows a consultation with key stakeholders undertaken by SHR.

Much of the existing Regulatory Framework has been retained. However, some key differences include:

• Annual Assurance Statement: SHR has introduced a new provision allowing it to seek assurance on a specific issue in an RSL’s Annual Assurance Statement (AAS). They have confirmed that they will communicate any specific requirement to RSLs in

Since the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act became law in October 2023, changes and processes are currently being put in place at Companies House with the first tranche of changes intended to take place as from 4 March 2024.  It should be noted that this requires secondary legislation to bring it into force however companies should be aware and ready for any changes required.

This blog is one of a series which will highlight the forthcoming reforms that the new Act will bring into

We are experiencing an increase in enquiries relating to resident Warden’s Accommodation within sheltered housing developments owned by RSLs. With advances in technology in remote alarm systems and older persons generally becoming more independent, there is a trend of proprietors in sheltered housing developments opting to replace their live-in resident warden with a non-resident visiting manager.

This change results in an additional property becoming vacant within the development, this can result in additional benefits for both existing residents and the RSL proprietor as the property

Are you a property factor? Are you owed over £5,000 in factoring debt from an owner? If so, a petition for sequestration may be a way to recover these debts. Sequestration, otherwise known as bankruptcy, is a means for debt recovery, where the debt is £5,000 or more, and is commonly identified as the process where a debtor is deemed insolvent. Sequestration is often identified as the most drastic form of debt recovery that a creditor may wish to take against a debtor.

If an

The Scottish Ministers have recently revised the public procurement thresholds for Scotland to ensure they are in line with the World Trade Organisation's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). The updated thresholds apply to procurement exercises which commence on or after 1^st January 2024, and will remain applicable until 31^st December 2025.

As with the last threshold revisions made for 2022 to 2023, where VAT may be payable under a contract, purchasers must ensure that an allowance for VAT is included within the estimated value

On 26 October 2023, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act received Royal Assent.   The Act has been put in place to tackle money laundering in the UK.  There are major changes coming to Companies House in terms of the Act, which will change Companies House role from a recipient of information to a more active gatekeeper in the fight against financial crime.

Over the last few months, we have been producing a series of blogs to highlight the forthcoming reforms that the new Act will bring

The recruitment of volunteer Committee Members can be challenging for a number of RSLs and, whilst our RSL clients are keen to encourage a wide range of interested individuals onto their Committee, an individual’s ability to become a Committee Member (being a member of the Committee of Management) is not absolute. Most RSLs adopt the Scottish Federation for Housing Associations (SFHA) Charitable Model Rules which state that an individual will not be eligible to be elected or appointed to an RSL’s Committee of Management where:

Where a Scottish public authority (including Registered Social Landlords (RSLs)) receives a Freedom of Information (FOI) request relating to one of their ‘FOI functions’; such information must be provided, except where an exemption applies under The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). FOI requests often contain elements of third-party personal data, meaning that RSLs must consider their legal obligations under FOISA, together with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

Section 38(1) of FOISA provides for exemptions of personal

At the time of issuing this blog, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is still progressing its way through Parliament and is currently at the 3^rd reading in the House of Lords.

To reiterate information from our earlier blog on this subject (which can be found here - Companies House Reforms - Verification of Directors and PSCs), 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

Continuation of Rent Cap and Eviction Moratorium 

On 1st June 2023, Scottish Ministers published plans to extend the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2023.  The publication can be found here Plans to extend protections for tenants - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Additionally, Scottish Ministers published the draft regulations which, if approved by the Scottish Parliament, will give effect to these plans by extending the eviction moratorium in both the social and private rented sector to 31st March 2024. 

The Regulations can be found here. The

Scots Law has always had problems in providing creditors with fixed security (i.e. a security ranking prior to all other claims) over assets other than land. Examples include:

• Security over physical assets such as vehicles, plant machinery and stock (corporeal movables).
• Security over intangible assets such as intellectual property rights and shares (incorporeal movables).
• Security over obligations by third parties to the borrower - primarily, through trade credit (claims).

That is because:

a) Physical assets can only be secured if they are in the creditor’s

The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill is designed to provide a series of practical improvements to problems which have arisen since the coming into force of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.

Key changes are:

Information held by OSCR

A criticism often been levelled at Scottish charity legislation is the paucity of publicly available information on the OSCR website. The Bill proposes to remedy this by requiring OSCR to make publicly available:

a) Statements of accounts for all charities together with independent

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 which will take effect from 1^st April 2023.

Therefore, it is now confirmed the eviction moratorium (in both the social and private rented sector) will remain in

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 Standard:

• A requirement to have safely accessible food storage and preparation space
• The heating installations will be amended to require that there is a fixed heating system
• Flats,

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.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2023/9780111056417

Landlords remain entitled to serve notice and raise eviction proceedings. The moratorium only delays the enforcement of eviction orders granted on particular grounds. There remains a number of grounds that are exempt from the moratorium. 

Rent Cap

Further, these draft Regulations extend the rent cap in the private rented sector.  From 1 April

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 the Bill, which will change Companies House role from a recipient of information to a more active gatekeeper in the fight against financial crime.

The changes will affect all UK

A recent decision involving the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Poland has highlighted the increased responsibilities on organisations to protect any personal data that they hold on behalf of individuals. This case highlighted in particular the necessity of having a written contract in place covering certain data protection matters where one organisation is processing personal data on behalf of another.

The circumstances of this case involved an organisation - acting in the capacity of a data controller, passing data onto another organisation -

Two consultations are currently underway at the moment, both with an aim to enhance and improve Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation in Scotland. The first is from the Scottish Government who are currently seeking views on FOI in its consultation on access to information rights in Scotland, and the second consultation involves a proposal for a Private Member’s Bill to reform FOI. As RSLs are subject to certain FOI laws, you should be aware of these consultations and the opportunity you have to express your

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 here
https://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 housing organisations representing registered social landlords across Scotland.

The regulations indicate that the rent cap will now expire on 26 February 2023. This will allow all social landlords time

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 process work?

The Appeal Process

When individuals are unsatisfied with the response they receive from a public authority regarding an FOI request, they have the right to have

Emergency legislation introducing a rent cap and a temporary moratorium on evictions until 31 March 2023 has now become law.

The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)(Scotland) Bill received Royal Assent on 27 October and will become law as the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)(Scotland) Act 2022 from 28 October. 

It follows the First Minister's statement to the Scottish Parliament on 6 September in which she introduced her “Programme for Government” for the coming year.

In the programme, the Scottish Government indicated that they intended:

“

On 30 September 2022, the limit for pursuing sequestration was lowered from a minimum balance outstanding to the creditor(s) pursuing sequestration of £10,000 to £5,000.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the limit was originally increased to £10,000 to support those suffering financial hardship. A reduction in the limit for sequestration means that creditors can now use sequestration as a form of diligence for recovering debt of £5,000 or above.  

What is Sequestration?

Sequestration is the Scottish legal term for personal bankruptcy.

An individual

On 6 September 2022, the First Minister announced that emergency legislation would be introduced to freeze rents and impose a temporary moratorium on evictions throughout winter in an effort to combat the cost of living crisis. The measures are expected to apply to both the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and will remain in place until 31 March 2023, but could be extended.

Our Court team has received a number of queries in relation to the emergency legislation. Here are some

Knowing your rights as a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) when dealing with an abandoned property is essential to avoid any legal headaches in the future.

Perhaps your tenant has been out of contact, falling behind on their rent, and the piles of unread letters on their doorstep suggest they have abandoned the property completely.

But before you can call the locksmith and pack up any belongings here are a few things worth bearing in mind:

What Are My Rights?

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (“The

We have recently been approached by a number of our Registered Social Landlord (RSL) clients whose contractors have requested uplifts on their tendered contract rates. An amendment to the contracted rates would be a modification of the contract during its term. Here we consider the procurement law implications of making changes to a contract after it has been signed.

 The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 provide that a modification of a public contract during its term triggers a requirement to re-procure that contract except in

Freedom of Information (FOI) was extended to apply to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) from November 2019 through an Order made by Scottish Ministers. This means RSLs now have a legal duty to provide the public with certain information.

However, there has been uncertainty over what exactly RSLs must disclose under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Read more: What Does Freedom of Information Mean For RSL Procurement?

The 2019 Order extended the coverage to RSLs in relation to certain specified functions. These are

A key contractor entering into insolvency can cause major issues for Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). Steps will need to be taken to secure continuity of key services whilst also ensuring that various legal and regulatory obligations (such as public procurement and value for money) are achieved.

With corporate insolvencies in Scotland rising by 49.1% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021 (with more stark rises in England and Wales), and warnings in sectors such as construction that

“Sustainability” is now a significant factor in Registered Social Landlord's (RSLs) day-to-day business decisions and this article considers the drive towards capturing and measuring an RSL’s sustainability credentials.

The Sustainability Reporting Standard

In 2020 the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) was drawn up by the ESG social housing working group composed of professionals from the housing and financial sector. “ESG” refers to the better inclusion of environmental, social and corporate governance factors in investment decisions” with an estimated $2.7 tn of ESG based

Please note that a practice note has been issued by the Sheriffs Principal of the six Scottish Sheriffdoms introducing guidance which will apply to all eviction actions in all sheriff courts throughout Scotland.

This new practice note takes effect from Wednesday 13 July 2022.

We would advise that we had no prior notice of this practice note nor has there been any consultation with any practitioner prior to its introduction.

Please find a link to the practice note here and this link will

The Simple Procedure Rules were introduced on 28^th November 2016. Since that date, all debt recovery actions for payment of money for sums of £5,000 or less were required to be raised via a court process known as “Simple Procedure”. Where the claim seeks certain other Orders, for example, repossession of a property which includes payment of money, £5,000 or less, Simple Procedure is not the appropriate procedure.

Simple Procedure is designed as a means of allowing the Court to determine cases quickly and

The Scottish Government announced its roadmap out of Covid restrictions on Tuesday. Hot on the heels of this was the publication of legislation ending the extended notice periods for certain grounds for recovery of possession for social tenancies yesterday.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Acts (Early Expiry of Provisions) Regulations 2022

These Regulations come in to force on 29^th March 2022 and will effectively bring an end to the extension of the notice period applicable for certain notices/grounds for recovery of possession on 30^th March

The vast majority of tenancies offered by Registered Social Landlords in Scotland are Scottish Secure Tenancies (SST). However, in some specific circumstances, landlords are able to offer tenants Short Scottish Secure Tenancies (SSST) instead. A SSST is a tenancy that lasts for a specified period of time (not less than six months) and can be terminated in certain circumstances upon reaching its end date. Tenants with SSSTs have fewer rights than those with SSTs and have less security of tenure.

Landlords can offer SSSTs to

As of the 1^st January 2022, the public procurement thresholds have changed in Scotland.

These thresholds were previously set at an EU level. However, as a result of the UK leaving the European Union, the Scottish government must now revise the threshold values of the procurement regulations every two years to ensure that they are aligned with the thresholds set out in the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement (“GPA”).

One key difference under the rules of the GPA is that the procurement thresholds

The Scottish Government has introduced new rules for fire and smoke alarms across homes in Scotland. From February 2022, every home in Scotland must have:

• A smoke alarm in the living room or most commonly used room
• A smoke alarm in circulation spaces such as hallways or landings
• A heat alarm in every kitchen

All alarms need to be mounted on the ceiling and interlinked. They can either be sealed battery alarms or mains wired alarms.

You will also require a carbon monoxide alarm where

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for everyone. However, as lockdowns lift and vaccines begin to take effect, the Scottish Government has begun to walk back some changes in law made to accommodate the impact of the pandemic through the: Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Act 2021.

What does the Act Change?

The Act repeals a number of provisions contained in Coronavirus legislation passed in 2020 and, in particular, reverses some of the leniency around FOI compliance.

Under changes to the law made

It was announced last week that New Zealand’s privacy commissioner, John Edwards, has been named as the UK Government’s preferred candidate for the next Information Commissioner.

Why is this significant? Well, the Government has announced that with a new Information Commissioner will come a shake-up of current data rules. On 1st January 2021, the official “transition period” governing the UK’s departure from the EU ended. With the UK set to take more steps to depart from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Digital Secretary, Oliver

The new Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 (the “Act”) is not without its controversies, with correspondence released under Freedom of Information this summer showing that the Queen had lobbied the Scottish Government in order to seek changes to the Act.

But, what does this legislation mean for RSLs – both those operate heat networks and those who currently have no plans to do so? This blog will give an overview of upcoming changes that RSLs should monitor.

What is a heat network?

Heat networks

As RSLs will be aware, LIBOR will cease to be published from 31 December 2021 and those who have Loan Agreements where the interest rate is, or may be, set by reference to LIBOR will have to decide how the interest they pay on these loans will be calculated when it is no longer available.

Whilst Banks vary with regard to what they will offer, the possible alternatives suggested by the Bank of England are:

1. SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) calculated by reference to actual

On 1 May 2019, the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 was amended to provide Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) with a mandatory ground of eviction in certain circumstances where a tenant is convicted of a crime. 

Section 16 (2)(aa) of the 2001 Act establishes a two-part test for RSLs to have a mandatory ground for eviction:

• That a tenant, joint tenant, subtenant, or a person residing, lodging or visiting the property, is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment committed in, or in the locality of, the property

By now, most Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in Scotland will have dealt with a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. It may be a more regular occurrence for some RSLs than others. Regardless if you receive one or one hundred FOI requests, each request must be dealt with in accordance with the rules set out in Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). To assist RSLs in following the correct process, we have created a handy checklist to which you can refer to which provides brief

To help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Parliament passed two Bills in 2020. These became the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (No.2) (Scotland) Act 2020. We previously blogged about the impact each of these Acts would have on Scottish Residential Tenancies.

On 18^th June 2021, the Scottish Parliament introduced a new Bill: The Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill. If enacted, the legislation will amend the existing Acts, which were due to expire on 30^th September 2021. The legislation will

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 2021 (except for Glasgow City and Moray) and some island communities moved to Tier 1. As such, the ban on enforcement of eviction orders was lifted from 17 May 2021. 

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 (“the 2020 Act”) contains emergency powers relating to coronavirus and health protection in Scotland. In exercising these powers the Scottish Government have introduced rules which have afforded additional protections to tenants by increasing the notice periods required before eviction action can start and banning the enforcement of eviction orders in certain circumstances.

Eviction ban update

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

In November 2019 no one could have predicted what a difficult year 2020 would prove to be. However, a new report published by the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) highlights that RSLs are coping well with their new FOI obligations despite the challenges raised by COVID-19.

The Report contains a number of key figures, namely:

• 97% of RSLs and subsidiaries who responded were confident in their ability to respond to FOI requests.

• The majority of respondents confirmed that FOI had not contributed significantly to their workloads

In an earlier blog we set out the basics of how the transition from LIBOR to SONIA would be effected. The matter has become more pressing as since October 2020 Banks have been providing detailed drafting to document the proposed transition and it was announced on  5 March 2021 that LIBOR as currently calculated would no longer be available from 1 January 2022. We examine some key issues below:

Spread

Although other periods are possible, LIBOR has generally been offered to the sector for periods

The Sheriff Appeal Court has just issued a decision which will be of significance to RSLs throughout Scotland. It concerns the operation of the “streamlined” eviction process in terms of ground 2 in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 designed to be used when tenants are convicted of criminal offences committed in or near the rented property.

Since May 2019, 2019, the “reasonableness” test has been removed from this ground meaning that the court must grant an eviction where the ground is established. However the government

The Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) has recently published one of the first decision notices on an RSL’s handling of a FOI request.

Whilst the decision notice (which can be viewed here) does not answer some of the bigger questions the sector has about their new FOI duties it does act as a reminder of some key aspects of FOI compliance. So, what can RSLs learn from this decision?

What was the decision about?

The decision concerned a failure to respond to a request for