Explanatory note

These Regulations bring into force a number of the provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 (“the Act”) on 9 November 2026, 1 April 2027 and 1 August 2027.

Sections 16 and 17 of the Act are being brought into force on 1 April 2027. Those sections provide an enforcement procedure whereby a local authority or the Scottish Ministers can apply to the First-Tier Tribunal for a financial penalty to be imposed on a landlord who fails to respond to a request for information made under section 14 or provides false information in response to such a request. Regulation 3(1) provides that these sections are applied only in relation to prospective requests for information.

Section 32 of the Act is being brought into force on 1 April 2027. Section 32 amends the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 to make changes to the calculation of damages for unlawful eviction. Regulation 3(2) provides that these changes are applied only in relation to prospective unlawful evictions.

Section 54 of the Act is being brought into force on 1 August 2027. Section 54 amends section 89 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to add the provision of housing support services to the list of things a local authority must assess in the course of preparing a local housing strategy. Regulation 3(3) provides that this change is applied only in relation to prospective assessments.

Section 55 is being brought into force on 1 August 2027. Section 55 changes the use of the term “abuse” in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and adds a definition of that term in section 43 of that Act.

Section 59 is being brought into force on 1 April 2027. Section 59 requires the Scottish Ministers to publish an annual report on Housing First tenancies.

Section 61 of the Act changes the uprating index for mobile home pitch fees from the Retail Prices Index to the Consumer Prices Index. Section 61 has already been brought into force for the purposes of pitch fee increases on or after 1 April 2026. Section 61(2) contains a power for the Scottish Ministers to further change the uprating index via regulations and these Regulations bring that provision fully into force on 9 November 2026.

Section 74 of the Act is being brought into force on 9 November 2026. Section 74 amends schedule 5 of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 to enable the Ombudsman to share relevant information with the new homes ombudsman created under the Building Safety Act 2022.