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I have looked very carefully—again, only yesterday—at what is proposed in the UK Renters’ Rights Bill. There are areas where aspects in Scotland provide better support for tenants, and there are, of course, different aspects of the overall application of a tenancy that mean that we cannot just replicate what is happening in a UK bill.

I am happy to carry on conversations about that between stages 2 and 3, should there be a situation in which tenants’ rights are lesser in Scotland than they are in other parts of the UK. That is not how I look at the legislation, but I am more than happy to be challenged if we feel that our rights are falling short of rights elsewhere. I am also content that there are other areas where the rights of a tenant are still better served in Scotland. In addition, sometimes, the rights of the landlord are better served by the current circumstances. However, if there are aspects in which we are falling short, I am quite happy to go through them in detail in the run-up to stage 3.

Amendments 188 and 200, also in the name of Maggie Chapman, would introduce a winter eviction enforcement ban, except in limited circumstances, which is similar to the temporary emergency measures under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022. The time-limited nature of the 2022 act was a key factor in achieving the lawful balance between the protection of tenants and the rights of landlords. However, Maggie Chapman’s amendments would be permanent and would apply every year. That is in addition to the enhanced eviction protections that are already in the bill.

I, too, want to ensure that we protect tenants and prevent, as far as possible, the negative impacts of eviction, but we must do so in a proportionate manner. In developing the bill, we explored greater restrictions on evictions over winter and consulted on that as part of our new deal for tenants. That highlighted support for additional protections, but reflected that the Scottish climate can be challenging at any time of year and that other times also present financial and emotional wellbeing pressures for people, such as periods of religious significance and exam periods.

I am also concerned about the creation of an eviction season after the end of the winter period and the negative impact of the additional pressure that that could put on housing and homelessness services, along with the issue of tenants finding alternative accommodation.

The measures in the bill will ensure that a more person-centred approach is taken, as the tribunal or court will need to consider whether the enforcement of an eviction should be delayed at any time of year, although seasonal impact is set out as a specific factor that should be considered.

I understand that the intention behind Emma Roddick’s amendment 250 is to increase the supply of affordable housing, which we are all committed to doing. However, the amendment does not appropriately take account of landlords’ rights. It would be overly restrictive to prevent landlords from selling a property on the open market, even if they had good reason for doing so. Amendment 250 could have unintended negative consequences should landlords decide to exit the market due to the increased risk of being unable to dispose of their property on the open market, so I cannot support it.

However, I reassure Emma Roddick that, in addition to being able to sell empty homes, private landlords can already approach social landlords with a view to selling their property with tenants in situ. Our affordable housing supply programme supports such purchases when they meet a clear strategic purpose and the tenants are at risk of homelessness. A recent example was the purchase in March this year of 20 homes, most of which were tenanted, in a pressured area of Perth and Kinross. We will continue to promote that existing flexibility through our close working relationships with councils, and we are in the process of strengthening our guidance to encourage that still further.

I ask Emma Roddick not to move amendment 250, but I will keep her informed of, and would welcome her thoughts on, the strengthening of the guidance that we will undertake.

Amendment 251, in the name of Maggie Chapman, sets out a proposal that responds to concerns about the costs of moving when a tenancy ends through no fault of the tenant and the misuse of repossession grounds. I am sympathetic to the issues that have been raised, but further detailed consideration of the need for, and the impact of, the amendment is required. That would best be done through the review of repossession grounds that we are committed to.

Amendments 362 to 368 and 395, in Paul McLennan’s name, will ensure that tenants who pay no rent or a low rent are appropriately compensated under the new unlawful eviction damages process. The current unlawful evictions legislation applies to all residential occupiers. That means that the provisions apply to all forms of tenancy and to forms of tenure other than a lease, such as a service occupancy or licence. It is therefore possible that a person who occupies a property will not necessarily pay rent or will pay a low rent. Changes in the bill that base damages on a calculation that involves multiplying the monthly rent could disadvantage people in those circumstances, which is not our intent.

Our amendments address that issue by prescribing that the figure of £840 should be used for the calculation in circumstances in which no rent or a low rent is paid. That figure is based on the average rent for a two-bed privately rented property, which is the most common size in the private rented sector. The amendments also provide powers for ministers to amend that amount through regulations.

Amendments 369 and 404, in Paul McLennan’s name, seek to change the compensation that can be awarded when a wrongful termination occurs to an amount between three and 36 times the monthly rent. That mirrors the way in which damages for an unlawful eviction are calculated. By prescribing £840 as the figure that should be used for the calculation for tenants who pay a low rent, amendment 369 will ensure that such tenants will be appropriately compensated. Powers are also provided for the Scottish ministers to amend the amount through regulations.

Amendment 268, in the name of Mark Griffin, would introduce a requirement for the Scottish ministers to carry out a review of eviction grounds under the 2016 act within 12 months of the bill receiving royal assent. As I have said, I remain committed to such a review being carried out for the private rented sector, and I understand Mr Griffin’s desire for it to be carried out in a timely manner.

However, if a detailed and robust review of repossession grounds is to be delivered, that work must be supported by stakeholder engagement. The imposition of a 12-month timeframe risks limiting the scope of the review, and I am sure that Mark Griffin would agree that none of us would want that to happen.

As I said when I wrote to the committee following its meeting on 6 May, I am committed to engaging with committee members on a range of issues. As part of that process, I will write to committee members with more information regarding our plans following the conclusion of stage 2. I therefore ask Mark Griffin not to move amendment 268.

Amendment 269, also in the name of Mark Griffin, introduces a similar requirement for a review of all the other grounds for eviction within the same timescale. There is no existing commitment to review the grounds for eviction more broadly and no evidence of a need for a review of that for the social rented sector or, indeed, evidence of calls from stakeholders to do so. Also, as no new tenancies can be created in relation to older protected or assured tenancies, that broader review would have little benefit. I therefore ask Mark Griffin not to move the amendment.

Amendment 141, in the name of Emma Roddick, seeks to address an important issue, the misuse of repossession grounds, which was also highlighted by the committee’s stage 1 report. No landlord should wilfully mislead a tenant or the tribunal into ending a tenancy. There are existing penalties for doing so through the Scottish Tribunals (Offences in Relation to Proceedings) Regulations 2016, which could result in imprisonment for up to two years, a fine or both. I recognise the need for further action in that area; however, I am not convinced that amendment 141 will deliver the outcome that is being sought. It is through the wider review of repossession grounds that the issue is best considered.

I reassure members that we are taking immediate action to increase penalties for wrongful termination through amendments 369 and 404. They would see compensation for a wrongful termination increasing from the current maximum of six months’ rent to 36 months’ rent. I therefore ask Emma Roddick not to move the amendment.

The aspects of data collection that we are looking at in relation to the bill are to ensure that we can implement rent controls. I appreciate that there are other pieces of data that members might wish to see collected for overall information purposes relating to the private rented sector. In one of the many round-table meetings that we will have over the summer, we will have to look at why we would be collecting the data, its purpose and what it would be used for. Those are the questions that we will need to get into if we are looking at evictions and the question of whether a property has been sold. We will need to consider how often that ground is used and how we can monitor the sale of properties.

Those details will have to be teased out. I do not know whether that can be done through data collection provisions in the bill, because those would specifically relate to rent control implementation. It is a challenge that we will have to come back to.

Amendments 232 to 236 aim to allow tenants to apply to their landlord to have the long lease of their rented property converted to ownership. Long leases in this context are leases that have been granted over property for more than 175 years.

The Scottish Parliament considered the issue in 2012 and passed legislation that converted long leases into outright ownership, where the remaining term of the lease was at least 100 years on a specified date. Amendments 232 to 236 would capture long leases that were not automatically converted into ownership by that legislation, provided that there are at least 50 years left to run on the lease. There is a separate amendment to reduce that to five years.

The issue was not discussed during stage 1 evidence or with stakeholders more widely. The 2012 legislation followed from a Scottish Law Commission report on the conversion of long leases. Research undertaken by the SLC, the views of stakeholders and human rights considerations all played an important part in the decision to choose the 100-year period. It was concluded that, when the remaining term of the lease drops below 100 years, the landlord can be considered to have an economic interest in the property, with such interest becoming more significant the nearer the lease is to its termination.

Accordingly, the then Scottish Government took the view that converting a long lease to ownership where there was a minimum of 100 years left to run in the lease would strike the right balance and ensure that everyone’s interests were protected, including the property rights of landlords under article 1, protocol 1 of the European convention on human rights. I note that no new research or evidence has been presented to the Parliament or the Scottish Government to justify the changes that Mr Greer has proposed.

I appreciate that the member’s position is based on constituency cases, which he mentioned in his opening remarks. As I have stated, which I think is exceptionally important, the work that was undertaken by the SLC and the views of stakeholders, as well as the human rights considerations, led to the 100-year period being chosen. I am afraid that, despite the constituency cases that Mr Greer raised with me in the run-up to today’s meeting, I still feel that the correct balance was reached as a result of the work that was undertaken for the 2012 legislation.

There are a number of policy gaps in the amendments and a lot of the detail about how the provisions that they would introduce would work would be left to regulations. Leaving aside the fact that the regulation-making powers are unlikely to be sufficient in that regard, I wish to make a point about the level of compensatory payments to be made to the landlord by the tenant. The calculation to determine the amount to be paid would be set out in regulations but, given what I have said about human rights considerations, the level of the payments is likely to be high, and it would be significantly higher the closer the lease is to the termination date. That might deter tenants from applying to convert their lease, thereby undermining what appears to be the principal aim of Mr Greer’s amendments.

Finally, I point out that there is currently nothing in law that prevents a tenant from approaching their landlord to privately arrange the conversion of their lease to ownership in the circumstances that the amendments seek to address. I therefore urge the member not to press the amendments, and, should he do so, I ask the committee not to support them.

We are committed to making progress on the issues that have been raised by mobile home site residents, and I support the work that Murdo Fraser has been undertaking with them. The Minister for Housing has taken action following Mr Fraser’s members’ business debate in February, including by writing to Ofgem, to the UK Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports, and to local authorities. I hope that the post-implementation review of mobile home site licensing that is to be carried out before the end of this parliamentary session will address some systemic issues.

Amendment 386, in the name of Paul McLennan, will align the definition of the consumer prices index that is used in the mobile homes provisions in the bill with that used in the rent control provisions. The new definition does not change the substance of what was in the previous definition.

I fully support the principle of amendments 21 and 23 on adaptations, that disabled people should be supported regardless of their housing circumstances. However, the amendments are not necessary, as there is already provision in law for that purpose. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 established arrangements for the delivery of support for disabled people who require adaptations and who either own or privately rent their homes. Mobile homes, caravans and park homes are not covered by that legislation, but all local authorities have a duty to ensure that the needs of disabled or chronically ill residents are met, whatever their housing circumstances, and to offer support under the provisions of the Chronically Sick And Disabled Persons (Scotland) Act 1972 and the Equality Act 2010.

Since the members’ business debate, my officials have had further engagement with some local authorities that shows that there are differing levels of understanding of the basis of supporting park home residents. The Minister for Housing wrote to council leaders and heads of housing on 22 April to confirm the basis for adaptation of mobile homes in housing legislation and the other legislation that I have mentioned.

Furthermore, we plan to undertake a review of the current housing adaptation system that will make recommendations on how best to improve and streamline the system and better target resources. The scope of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 will be part of the review, so issues relating to adaptations to park and mobile homes will be considered. I have already referred to the review in previous groups.

Amendment 22 is intended to improve access to justice for residents of mobile homes by moving cases from the courts to the First-tier Tribunal. I support the principle of the amendment, but lodging it at this point is premature. The Mobile Homes Act 1983 is complex. It covers Gypsy Traveller sites, so there are equality considerations. Time is needed for effective consultation and policy making to identify how the rights and responsibilities of residents and site owners can best be upheld. After discussion with Mr Fraser, the Minister for Housing and I are therefore committing to consult on the policy that amendment 22 would implement, and we aim to do so before the end of the current parliamentary session, resources permitting.

I ask Murdo Fraser not to move his amendments in this group. If amendments 21 to 23 are moved, I urge the committee not to support them.

I move amendment 386.

I am grateful for the discussions that I have had with members, particularly Mark Griffin and Meghan Gallacher, on the issues raised by the amendments in this group. I also thank Marie Curie for the meetings that we have had to discuss the issues for tenants who are terminally ill and their families that have prompted the amendments in this group. Those issues include concerns about the length of time for which a person must currently have lived in a let property before they can succeed to a tenancy, which is 12 months in both the social and private rented sectors, and the time by which an occupier has to leave a let property after the tenant’s death.

I turn first to amendments 520 and 521, in the name of Meghan Gallacher. Amendment 520 would remove the current 12-month qualifying residence period before partners, members of a tenant’s family or carers are entitled to succeed to a Scottish secure tenancy following the death of the tenant. Amendment 521 would make the same change in relation to private residential tenancies under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016. Those amendments would remove the qualifying period and would require only that the house must be that person’s only or principal home at the time of the tenant’s death.

In addition, amendments 520 and 521 seek to change the amount of time that a person who could succeed to the tenancy but does not wish to do so must be given before they must leave the property. There is currently a process for that in the social rented sector. Amendment 520 would change the period of time that a tenant in such circumstances has before they must leave the property, raising it from three months to six months. I see the benefits for tenants but would like to further consider the impact of that change in relation to the duty on social landlords to make the best use of their housing stock. Initial discussions with some social landlords have raised some concerns and, in a housing emergency, any delay in being able to allocate a property when an individual has indicated that they do not wish to remain there must be carefully considered. However, I am happy to commit to further exploring that aspect of the amendment with Meghan Gallacher and Marie Curie ahead of stage 3. Should social landlords not make a substantive case, I am content to work with Meghan Gallacher on that area, and I particularly thank her for the conversations that we have had in the past few weeks and for her commitment to moving forward on the issue.

Amendment 521 would make changes to the 2016 act to introduce a similar mechanism for qualifying private tenants who do not wish to succeed to a tenancy. That would mean that private landlords would have to give a tenant who has already automatically succeeded to a private residential tenancy six months’ notice to leave that tenancy if they write to the landlord to say that they do not wish to become the tenant. Existing legislation already provides greater protection for tenants in those circumstances, because qualifying tenants automatically succeed to the tenancy and can stay for as long as they choose. The change is, therefore, unnecessary and would actually reduce existing rights.

Amendments 520 and 521 would also introduce a new mandatory requirement on landlords to give reasonable assistance to the tenant to find alternative accommodation, and I recognise the positive intent behind that. Social landlords are already required to provide housing options advice for those at risk of becoming homeless, so that homelessness is prevented as early as possible, which means that the new requirement is therefore not necessary. Private landlords will not usually have the necessary training or resources to provide housing options advice and assistance to tenants, so I do not think that they are best placed to support a tenant who needs or wishes to move to alternative accommodation. A more effective approach would be to work with Marie Curie and other relevant stakeholders to develop a practice note that would support private landlords whose tenant has a terminal illness or dies. That would be the appropriate resource to encourage landlords to provide tenants with signposting to the organisations that are best placed to provide support and advice in those circumstances.

I understand the concerns raised by the member and Marie Curie that the current qualifying period contributes to housing insecurity and increases distress and trauma for terminally ill people, their families and carers, which can cause profound emotional and practical disruption when they are at their most vulnerable. I have also reflected on previous consideration of the issue, which resulted in the extension, through the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014, of the qualifying period from six to 12 months—a position also taken in the 2016 act. The qualifying residence period for succession must be balanced with the need to make best use of the limited social housing that is available and with the property rights of landlords. On balance, I think that the 12-month qualifying period should be changed and, therefore, ask members to support amendments 383 and 384, in the name of Paul McLennan, which would reduce that qualifying period from 12 to six months.

I ask Meghan Gallacher not to move amendments 520 and 521, in the light of Government amendments 383 and 384 and my commitment to explore, at stage 3, a change to the timescale for leaving a property where a succeeding tenant declines the tenancy.

I also reiterate my commitment to progress the development of guidance for private landlords to help them to support terminally ill tenants and their families.

I move amendment 383.

I again thank all the members with whom I have had discussions about the amendments in this group. Those discussions have been a good example of the kind of discussions that we can have on exceptionally sensitive issues. We all come from the same starting point, which is that we want to be able to support people with a terminal illness and their loved ones in the most difficult of circumstances.

This group of amendments is an example of our ability to make a real difference to people, which does not arise in many cases. I thank Marie Curie for the intensive work that it has done directly with my officials to provide case studies for me to examine to enable me to identify where there are flaws or gaps in the law, or where there is an issue with tenants not understanding their rights or landlords not understanding their obligations. That has been very helpful as we have sought to make progress on the issue.

I believe that changes need to be made to the amendments that Meghan Gallacher has lodged, for the reasons that I have explained, but I share her intent of providing the best possible assistance to people who, along with their loved ones, might be in the worst of circumstances.

Amendment 383 agreed to.

Amendment 384 moved—[Shirley-Anne Somerville]—and agreed to.

Amendments 520 and 521 not moved.

Section 39—Social landlords: delivery of notices etc

Amendments 456 and 423 not moved.

Section 39 agreed to.

Section 40 agreed to.

After section 40

Amendments 422 and 247 not moved.

Amendment 273 moved—[Maggie Chapman].

We do. The only potential difference is that I would consider whether we need to do something new or to ensure that what we have in place is robust and working for all those who require it.

That brings me to Ross Greer’s amendments 189 and 195. I would be grateful if Graham Simpson would allow me to discuss those now, because I will then wrap up and talk about the potential way forward for Mr Greer’s amendments and Mr Simpson’s amendments together.

Ross Greer’s amendments 189 and 195 provide for the establishment of a rent guarantor scheme for estranged young people. I am sympathetic to the outcomes that he seeks to achieve. However, that situation would be complex and it would have ongoing, unknown financial implications. Given that a number of rent guarantor schemes already exist across Scotland, which are operated by universities, local authorities and charities, I am not convinced that setting up a new scheme via a public body would be the best way to deliver increased support for estranged young people.

However, I recognise the concern that Ross Greer has and I see the gaps that he has alluded to in the current set-up. Dealing with that is particularly important, but not only for estranged young people.

I would indeed, and my very next paragraph was to say that the aspects that Willie Rennie, Meghan Gallacher and now Ross Greer have mentioned reiterate a concern from the Church of Scotland. I appreciate its desire to make its housing stock available to assist with the housing emergency where possible and I am keen to have those discussions with the Church of Scotland to ensure that we can work through its concerns. I hope that that will provide the reassurance that we all want to see and that I believe to be the intent behind the amendments. I am happy for those discussions to take place between the Church of Scotland and me and my officials.

Amendment 187, in the name of Maggie Chapman, would insert into the 2016 act a new section that would extend notice periods for ending a tenancy, for example, when there are rent arrears, to four months rather than the current 28 days, or to 12 months rather than the current 84 days, when the landlord is ending the tenancy in order to sell, or the property is to be sold by the lender. That change would make it harder for a landlord who needed to sell a property due to financial hardship; it would delay the sale for a substantial period and contribute to that hardship. It would also mean that a landlord could not end a tenancy quickly when there was antisocial behaviour or the property had been abandoned. Scottish ministers are committed to a wider review of repossession grounds, and that issue is best considered as part of that work. Again, I appreciate what Maggie Chapman is looking to do with her amendments, but I am concerned about their unintended consequences.

I am sure that we will come to that question during the review of repossession grounds, when we will get into the details of those aspects. We cannot sort out the details of that issue in the bill, but we will clearly have to look at it.

Again, I make the point that there is no point in having those aspects in legislation if we are not able to make use of them, whether because of monitoring or other areas where there are gaps in implementation. We must look at the use of the legislation, and awareness of rights is a key aspect of that. The monitoring is indeed challenging.