Generation Rent slams Scottish government over ‘backward step’ on eviction notice periods

Generation Rent claims Scotland will have the worst eviction notice periods in Britain under the Scottish Housing Bill.

The bill, which faces its final stage tomorrow (Tuesday 30 September) before becoming law, has seen hundreds of amendments submitted, including several from the Scottish Greens, such as proposals to prevent evictions in the first 12 months of a tenancy.

However, many of these amendments were rejected, which Generation Rent says represents a “major backward step for renters.”

Allowing landlords to turf tenants out of their homes

Cabinet Secretary for Housing Màiri McAllan says the government needs to do more work to understand the implications of increased notice periods before implementing changes, and that the upcoming review of repossession grounds will also examine the issue.

However, Generation Rent claim the Scottish government is failing to protect renters, allowing landlords “to turf tenants out at short notice.”

Ben Twomey, Chief Executive at Generation Rent, said: “Homes are the foundations of our lives. But allowing landlords to turf tenants out of their homes with very little notice shatters those foundations. The impact ripples across society, pushing people into homelessness and placing strain on public services.

“The Scottish government has rightly been proud of its past record in standing up for tenants. But this represents a major backward step for renters who will soon be looking enviously across the border if the government doesn’t change course.”

Amendments rejected by the Scottish government

The Scottish Greens also tabled amendments to increase eviction notice periods to four months in cases where a landlord wants to sell the property or move in.

Generation Rent claims that, along with the proposal to prevent evictions in the first 12 months of a tenancy, these amendments would have provided Scottish tenants with protections similar to those being introduced for renters in England through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

However, these amendments were rejected by the Scottish government.

Generation Rent says in Scotland, tenants who have been in their home for less than six months can be evicted with just 28 days’ notice. The tenant group adds: “If a tenant has been in their home for more than six months, they can still be evicted through no fault of their own with under three months’ notice (84 days).”

However, despite this, evicting a tenant in Scotland is different to in England, and landlords must follow the rules. The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) told Property118 that an eviction ban was in place in Scotland until March last year and that all agreements are now governed by Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) legislation.

To end a PRT, the landlord must issue the tenant with a prescribed notice called a Notice to Leave, detailing which eviction ground applies. If serving notice for rent arrears, the landlord must wait until the tenant has owed any amount of rent for three months before serving notice.

A notice to leave must be in writing, it must not be done verbally or by email as it will not be valid.  In the notice, you must tell the tenant about their right to get advice and where to get it.