Chamber and committees

First-time buyers can access a variety of support to become a home owner, including the Help to Buy Smaller Developers Scheme and the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT). In addition, the first-time buyer relief for Land and Building Transaction Tax means that an estimated 8 out of 10 first-time buyers pay no tax at all.

Despite being closed to new applications, the main Help to Buy scheme and First Home Fund continue to benefit first-time buyers across Scotland with settlements occurring throughout this financial year.

In line with the principle of producer responsibility, it is for Circularity Scotland Ltd as scheme administrator of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to put in place policies that will allow it to discharge its obligations under the DRS Regulations.

We are confident that, as set out on page 32 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) for DRS, our ‘scheme has been designed with features that mitigate the potential impact on smaller producers and retailers’. The BRIA is available here: A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland - Full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (www.gov.scot)

In designing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), we were mindful of the potential for future growth in the proportion of single-use drinks containers sold online. To ensure that our DRS is successful and fair, it is important that online retailers charge the deposit and provide a service to allow it to be redeemed and the container returned.

The draft Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out that the Scottish Government will legislate to require the installation of zero emissions heating systems in existing buildings, subject to the Scottish Parliament having devolved competence to do so.

The draft Strategy proposes that such legislation would begin to take effect from 2025, with the intention that all building owners are regulated to meet the requirement for zero emissions heating by 2045.

The exact phasing and operation of the proposed regulations is still to be determined, but as set out in the draft Strategy, and where within competence , could include requiring certain buildings to install zero emissions heating systems earlier than 2045. This may include those buildings using high emissions fuels (which are more prevalent in off-gas grid areas), or those buildings which reach a natural trigger point (such as the replacement of an existing fossil fuel heating system).

The Scottish Government plans to consult on detailed proposals on this issue in 2022.

The Scottish Government currently only allows travellers returning from green and amber list countries to use NHS tests, arranged through the CTM booking portal, as they are the highest quality with established data flows into NHS boards and samples are sequenced to ensure early detection of variants of concern.

Travellers arriving in other parts of the UK can access the NHS tests, however those arriving in England and Northern Ireland are also able to access private test providers who charge a range of prices.

The Scottish Government is exploring ways to allow private testing for travellers coming to Scotland provided we are confident in the flow of data into contact tracing services and that all positive test results are analysed to identify any variants of concern.

The Covid-19 test kits are home PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company CTM.

Currently, the Scottish Government does not allow use of private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries.

We are having on-going discussions with the UK government on using private test providers and exploring ways to allow private testing for travellers coming to Scotland provided we are confident in the flow of data into contact tracing services and that all positive test results are analysed to identify any variants of concern.

As set out in our update to the Climate Change Plan, we will take steps to improve waste data by working with the UK Government, other devolved governments, and agencies such as SEPA, to develop and implement the electronic waste tracking system. This step change in the quality and timeliness of waste data will support decision-making and underpin the key building blocks required to reduce emissions and drive delivery on existing waste and recycling targets.

A joint consultation is being planned for this summer on behalf of all four nations of the UK. This consultation will seek views on how and when mandatory digital waste tracking should be implemented.

Housing to 2040 is Scotland’s first ever long-term national housing strategy and makes clear our ambition to deliver 100,000 affordable homes by
‎ 2031-32, 70% of which will be for social rent.

Local authorities have a statutory function to assess local housing requirements and to set out in their Local Housing Strategy (LHS) how this will be met.

Priorities and outcomes identified in the LHS inform local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs) which are prepared annually and which set out affordable housing investment priorities over a five year period. These are expected to be publicly available.

The Scottish Household Recycling Charter, agreed in partnership between Scottish Government and COSLA, aims to bring more consistency to recycling services. One of the principles of the charter when designing services is to reduce the capacity provided for waste that cannot be recycled to encourage citizens to recycle, while ensuring all citizens have access to services for recycling and are provided with adequate volumes of containers in line with the Code of Practice.

As part of the Programme for Government 2020-2021, Scottish Government have committed to review the Household Recycling Charter’s Code of Practice, to reflect current best practice and make it easier for households to recycle the right things. The review is a key step in developing a future model of recycling collections, aligning with Scotland’s new deposit return scheme to drive further consistency.

Zero Waste Scotland are leading an advisory group with representatives from Local Authorities and COSLA, to review the Code of Practice. Residual waste capacity is being considered as part of the review.

The Code of Conduct for Property Factors sets out minimum standards of practice and encourages transparency, while ensuring that homeowners know what to expect from their property factors. A revised Code of Conduct for Property Factors was approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament in March 2021. This brought the Code of Conduct up to date, clarified and strengthened it, ensuring that all registered property factors operate consistently and to the appropriate standards, while also giving homeowners confidence in what their factor is offering them. The responses from homeowners to the public consultation for a revised Code of Conduct for Property Factors did not suggest that excessive or unjustified management fees was an area of concern. The consultation opened on 6 October 2017 and closed on 15 January 2018. You can find details of the consultation, an analysis of responses and view submitted responses at:

https://consult.gov.scot/housing-regeneration-and-welfare/code-of-conduct-for-registered-property-factors/

A property factor must provide each homeowner with a comprehensible written statement of services that sets out, in a simple, structured way, the terms and service delivery standards of the arrangement in place between them and the homeowner. This includes a requirement to set out the management fee charged by the property factor and the property factor’s policy for reviewing and increasing or decreasing this management fee. The revised Code will come into force on 16 August 2021.

While the Scottish Government has no plans to make changes that affect the remit of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) at present, it is our intention to review the existing legislation to identify areas for consideration to strengthen and support the improved operation of the regulatory regime for property factors. We hope to undertake this work in the latter half of this operational year with the intention of including any proposed changes in a suitable legislative vehicle thereafter.