As anyone involved in the private rented sector (PRS) in Scotland will know, the judicial body responsible for adjudicating on disputes, including eviction applications and claims for rent arears, is the First-tier Tribunal: Housing and Property Chamber (HPC), rather than the sheriff courts. This has been the case since 1 December 2017. The last statistical …
Read more >Nine months on from their introduction in October 2022, many landlords are still seeking advice on whether their circumstances will satisfy the ‘financial hardship’ eviction grounds, thus allowing them to avoid the eviction moratorium. The relevant grounds are Ground 1A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 and Grounds 1A and 4A of the Private Housing …
Read more >What is or what is not the only or principal home of a tenant is a concept that has been with those operating in the private rented sector for many years. It is a concept that was carried forward into the Private Housing (Tenancies)(Scotland) Act 2016 (the 2016 Act). It also forms the basis of …
Read more >The Fit and Proper Test In a recent judicial review brought by private landlord, Anu Sharma, the Court of Session has provided useful clarification on the nature of the fit and proper person test to be applied by local authorities when determining whether or not to permit, refuse or remove a landlord from the register. …
Read more >Defended Tribunal applications inevitably lead to delays in the process for landlords in terms of recovery. This is in addition to the enforcement of eviction delays due to the eviction moratorium. One could not be criticised for suggesting that the balance of fairness now appears to be heavily weighted in favour of the tenant both …
Read more >The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)(Scotland) Act 2022 (the Act) came into force on 28th October 2022 and introduced what was described by the Scottish Government as “emergency measures” to respond to the cost of living crisis. With the Act we got the rent cap (originally a rent freeze) and the eviction moratorium which operates …
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