Chamber and committees

The prescribed Notice to Leave that landlords must use to end a private residential tenancy includes important information for tenants and signposts to a number of organisations, such as Citizens Advice Scotland and Shelter Scotland, should they need advice and support to understand their rights. It also directs tenants worried about having somewhere to live to contact their local authority to discuss their circumstances.

Local authorities are obliged by law to offer minimum of temporary accommodation, advice and assistance for people who are at risk or who are experiencing homelessness. They are best placed to provide advice on housing options and what further support they can offer.

For short assured or assured tenancies, the Notice to Quit landlords must use to end the tenancy advises tenants about getting legal advice or contacting organisations who provide housing support if they are unsure of the validity of the Notice. It advises that help with all or part of the cost of legal advice may be available under the legal aid legislation.

Scottish Government are providing up to £2 million this year to support the Early Resolution Advice Programme administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, which supports projects in the third sector, to provide assistance and representation for people at risk of, or facing court action related to debt and housing matters.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold management fee information about local authorities’ mixed tenure improvement services, which would need to be obtained directly from each local authority that operates such a service.

The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 does not discuss “standard rates” for any aspect of work to be undertaken and no changes to this are currently under consideration.

The City of Edinburgh Council set their 21-day timescale during the Wester Hailes pilot and the timescale is based on experience gained during the pilot programme.

The timescale allows owners to reflect and seek advice but is short enough to prevent undue delays to the repairs. The council have provided numerous extensions to this timescale where requested by owners.

The interest rate is applicable to debt where private property owner occupiers pay back over an agreed period of time. The City of Edinburgh Council consider this a last resort for private property owners who may be able to source more favourable rates through re-mortgaging or external finance. This rate was agreed within the council in 2021 alongside the approval of the enhanced Scheme of Assistance and extension of the debt recovery terms. It is worth noting that interest rates were much lower in 2021.

The policy is aimed at getting the balance right for both the council and debtors whilst not encouraging owners to agree payment plans with the council by default. Debt recovery from owners for the works in Wester Hailes is very positive so far with 77% of debt paid or secured in payment plans.

With energy bills remaining significantly high, the Scottish Government has offered to work with the UK Government to ensure energy consumers are supported, including through driving improvement to the energy efficiency of our housing stock, in order to tackle fuel poverty and ensure the energy market is fit for purpose as we transition towards net zero.

Our consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill, which closed on 8 March 2024, included proposals for setting a cap on the costs to property owners of meeting the proposed Heat in Buildings Standard. This proposal was included in recognition of our overall aim to ensure our proposals are fair, proportionate and affordable.

We are currently considering responses to the consultation to inform our thinking and development of future proposals.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is not a Scottish Government initiative and was established and is led by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council using powers as set out in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. The Scottish Government does not collect or collate information about the management fees charged by local authorities or housing associations as part of Tenement Management Schemes.

The guidance issued by the Scottish Government about the design and delivery of Area Based Schemes (ABS) allows for councils to claim up to 20% of their grant award as enabling costs. This ensures that participating households are not asked to help meet wider household engagement, survey, scaffolding and management costs for ABS projects as a whole.

The Scottish Government does not provide funding in support of the Mixed Tenure Improvement Service operated by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The total amount of grant claimed as part of the Area Based Schemes programme by the City of Edinburgh Council since 2020 is published on the Scottish Government website. Area-Based Schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

As noted in the answer to question S6W-29325 on 16 September 2024, the Bank cannot invest in local authorities and it does not make sub-commercial investments or provide grant funding.

As the Bank has operational independence it can work with local authorities and create joint venture structures, as long as the Bank is not investing in the local authority.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Under its remit, the Scottish National Investment Bank (‘the Bank’) cannot invest in local authorities or give guarantees. However, they can work with local authorities and create joint venture structures, as long as the Bank is not investing in the local authority.

The Bank is operationally independent. As such it makes its investment decisions independent of the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers.

The level of grant-in-kind potentially available to households participating in Area Based Schemes is not affected by these fees. Councils are required to separately claim a proportion of overhead costs such as surveys, scaffolding and project management as enabling funding.