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If any owner refuses to pay his or her share of repairs, the obligation to pay can be enforced in the sheriff court by any owner or anyone authorised by an owner or owners. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 introduces new discretionary powers for local authorities to pay missing shares on behalf of owners who are unwilling or unable to comply with decisions made by the majority of other owners. We will further consider common repairs in the work of the stakeholder forum on a common housing standard.

The Tenements (Scotland) 2004 came into force on 28 November 2004 with the exception of section 18 (obligation of owner to insure) which came into force on 27 January 2007. The first available statistics on the private rented sector following the enforcement of the legislation relate to March 2005 and the most recent statistics available are as at March 2014.

Figures published in the Scottish Government Housing Statistics for Scotland 2015: Key Trends Summary show that the private rented sector grew by an estimated 74%, from 215,000 dwellings in March 2005 to 375,000 in March 2014.

Registers of Scotland (RoS) does not currently publish Freedom of Information (FOI) responses on its website. However, RoS plans to introduce a disclosure log of FOI information to its publication scheme in spring 2016 in line with best practice guidance.

The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 followed a detailed report on the law of the tenement by the Scottish Law Commission. The Scottish Government introduced new powers amending the tenement management scheme in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014. We made a commitment in the sustainable housing strategy to develop proposals for a working group to consider a single condition standard for all housing tenures to support repairs to common parts in mixed tenure buildings. A stakeholder forum has been established to take this forward with a view to conducting a formal public consultation in 2017.

Registered landlords have a legal duty under section 87(2) of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 to notify the local authority in writing as soon as practicable, if any information provided by the person in their registration application, becomes inaccurate.

Where a landlord fails to keep their contact details up to date, the local authority, as part of its responsibilities for enforcing landlord registration in its area, is able to refer the matter to the police. A landlord guilty of an offence under section 87(2) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3, equivalent to £1,000, on the standard scale. Evidence of such an offence may also be taken into account as part of the fit and proper person test. Where the landlord is found not to be fit and proper, they may be removed from the register.

The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 came into force on 1 October 2012 and provides protections for homeowners who use the services of a registered property factor. The Act introduced a code of conduct which sets out minimum standards of practice which all registered property factors are obliged to comply with.

A requirement of the code is that the property factor must provide the homeowner with a written statement of services provided. This written statement of services should include the basis on which a homeowner can end their service arrangement.

Homeowners who are unhappy about the service provided by their property factor can apply to have their case considered by the Homeowner Housing Panel which can issue legally-binding property factor enforcement orders. Before doing this the homeowner should raise the matter with the factor directly and follow the factor’s own internal complaints procedure.

Information on appointing or dismissing a factor is also available in paragraph 3.3.5 of the Scottish Government publication Common Repair, Common Sense: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/law/17975/CommonRepair-CommonSense/Managingthetenement.

The Scottish Government is also preparing a public-facing guide for homeowners on the provisions of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 on the dismissal and replacement of property factors.

For historical reasons Edinburgh City Council had local powers to enforce repairs under Part 6 of the City of Edinburgh District Council Order Confirmation Act 1991. Since 2009 all local authorities have had discretionary powers to require owners to carry out work to repair homes or to plan maintenance. We have established a stakeholder forum to consider whether there should be a new single condition standard for all housing tenures to support repairs to common parts in mixed tenure buildings.

The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 came into force on 1 October 2012 and provides protections for homeowners who use the services of a registered property factor.

The current legislation has been operating for just over three years and no review has taken place to date. There are also no current plans to review the Act, but a review of the code of conduct for registered property factors established under the Act is planned to start in 2016. The code sets out minimum standards of practice which all registered property factors are obliged to comply with.

We will engage with property factors and homeowners so that they can play a key role in the review and developing any revised code of conduct. Any revised code would also be subject to public consultation and approval by the Scottish Parliament. We are also happy to work with the industry and others with a view to identifying any other ways to strengthen the Act.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of number of registered landlords living outwith the UK nor the proportion by which this has changed since the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force.

The key fiscal levers that affect the sector remain with the UK Government. The Scottish Government has made repeated calls for the fiscal regime to support greater exploration, protect critical infrastructure and encourage further investment in the oil and gas sector. Most recently, the Deputy First Minister wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 February 2016 to outline the need for further urgent fiscal reform.

The Deputy First Minister called for:

A substantial reduction in the headline rate of tax, in order to create an internationally competitive tax regime that will successfully bid for investment, improvements to accessing decommissioning tax relief and the fiscal treatment of infrastructure, which should encourage innovation and efficiency.

The removal of fiscal barriers for exploration and enhanced oil recovery, via the further refinement of the investment allowance. Additional non-fiscal support to support investment in the sector, such as government loan guarantees.

The Scottish Government is currently using all of its devolved powers to help where it can. Building on actions such as the creation of the energy jobs taskforce in January 2015, the Scottish Government has recently announced a comprehensive support package for the sector.