Explanatory note

These Regulations bring into force a number of the provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 (“the Act”) on 1 April 2026, 1 August 2026, 6 October 2026 and 1 April 2027.

Part 1 of the Act (sections 1 to 27), with the exception of sections 16, 17 and 24, is brought into force by these Regulations. Sections 1 to 15, 18 to 23 and 27 are all brought into force on 1 April 2026. Sections 25 and 26 are brought into force on 1 April 2027. Part 1 introduces an obligation on a local authority to conduct an assessment of rent conditions in their area and submit a report on that assessment to the Scottish Ministers. In that report, the local authority must make a recommendation as to whether rent control is necessary in any part of their area. Local authorities and the Scottish Ministers are given powers in Part 1 to request information about a property and a tenancy from a landlord. Part 1 then enables the Scottish Ministers to designate an area as a rent control area where they consider it necessary and proportionate, and it provides rules to regulate rent increases in the rent control area and the advertisement of rental properties in the rent control area.

Sections 25 and 26 of the Act amend the powers of rent officers and the First-tier Tribunal to set rent following referral of a rent increase by a tenant (or landlord) so that the rent cannot exceed that sought by the landlord in the initial rent increase notice. Section 27 requires the Scottish Ministers to conduct a five-yearly review of the operation of Part 1 of the Act.

Part 2 of the Act (sections 28 to 34) is being brought into force under exception of sections 28 to 32. Section 33 requires the Scottish Ministers to conduct a review of eviction grounds within 2 years of Royal Assent. Section 34 of the Act is being brought into force on 6 October 2026 and that section changes the sums that can be awarded to a tenant for wrongful termination.

Part 3 of the Act (sections 35 and 36) introduces procedures whereby a tenant can make a request to keep a pet at the property and make changes to the property. The only provisions in Part 3 that are being brought into force in these Regulations are the regulation-making powers for the Scottish Ministers to provide further detail as to how those procedures will operate once they are in force and the duties to consult before laying such regulations. Those powers and duties are brought into force on 1 April 2026.

Part 4 of the Act (sections 37 to 51) makes general provision relating to tenants and is being brought into force under exception of sections 37 and 51. Sections 46 and 47 are already in force. Sections 38 to 43 are being brought into force on 1 April 2026 and those sections make procedural changes to the operation of the letting agents register. Section 44 makes changes to the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) to enable a single joint tenant to unilaterally terminate a joint tenancy. The regulation-making powers in section 44 are being brought into force on 1 April 2026 and the remainder of section 44 will come into force on 1 April 2027. Section 45 provides a regulation-making power for the Scottish Ministers to introduce notice periods for a student tenant to terminate their student tenancy. Sections 48 and 49 shorten the qualifying period for succession to a private residential tenancy or Scottish secure tenancy from 12 months to 6 months. Section 50 makes procedural changes for the way in which notices are to be served under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

Part 5 of the Act (sections 52 to 59) makes general provision in relation to homelessness. Section 52 is being brought partially into force only for the purposes of enabling regulations to be made under the powers in new sections 36C(2)(c), 40A and 43A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (“the 1987 Act”). These powers enable the Scottish Ministers to specify additional actions that a relevant body must take in relation to a person who is threatened with homelessness, to modify the definitions of homeless and threatened with homelessness in the 1987 Act, and to modify the list of relevant bodies in the 1987 Act. Section 53 of the Act is being brought into force and it enables the Scottish Ministers to modify provisions in the 1987 Act relating to intentional homelessness. Section 58 of the Act is being brought into force enabling support services for those experiencing domestic abuse to be included as part of the Scottish Social Housing Charter.

Part 6 of the Act (sections 60 to 80) is being brought into force by these Regulations under exception of sections 60, 63, 74 and 79. Sections 75, 76 and 78 have already been brought into force. Section 61 changes the uprating index for mobile home pitch fee increases from RPI to CPI. Section 62 clarifies a previous amendment to the definition of “protected site” in the Mobile Homes Act 1983. Sections 64 to 69 make procedural changes to the operation of the property factors register. Section 70 reduces the majority required to dismiss a property manager under the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 from two thirds to a simple majority. Sections 71 to 73 make technical and procedural changes to the consulting, reporting and funding provisions of the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019. Section 77 obliges the Scottish Ministers to review the classification of properties for the purposes of section 72 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. Section 80 enables the Scottish Ministers to produce guidance for local authorities in relation to local housing emergencies.

Section 81 of the Act (Part 7) is brought into force on 1 April 2026 and obliges the Scottish Ministers to conduct an assessment of the Acts impact on rural and island communities within 12 months of Royal Assent.

Section 85 of the Act which introduces the schedule of the Act, is brought into force but only insofar as it is necessary to give effect to the specified parts of the schedule relevant to the sections that have been commenced. The Regulations bring various minor and consequential amendments provided in the schedule of the Act into force on 1 April 2026 and 1 April 2027.