Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 September 2020
I find it a bit bizarre that Mr Wightman has chosen to speak against an SSI that he will be supporting, and not to speak on an SSI that he will be opposing, but there you go.
The past few months have been extremely challenging across society. The coronavirus pandemic has had significant implications for everyone, including the many people in Scotland who live in private rented accommodation. In responding to the pandemic, we have been clear that taking eviction action against a tenant because they have suffered financial hardship due to coronavirus should be a last resort. Instead, we want landlords to be flexible with their tenants, by signposting them to the range of financial support that is available and working with them to manage any arrears that occur.
We took swift action in March to introduce legislation to protect renters from eviction until the end of September. We have made most grounds for evictions discretionary, so that tribunals can take all individual circumstances into account in their deliberations. We have already said that those protections will be extended to the end of March 2021, subject to parliamentary agreement.
Beyond that, we want to ensure that, where tenants find themselves in difficulties, private landlords must work with them to help them manage any arrears before they seek eviction. The regulations under consideration do that by clearly setting out the steps that landlords must take to help tenants.
We have introduced those requirements through regulations to establish them on a statutory basis, making sure that the steps that private landlords must take are absolutely clear and in line with the social sector, where appropriate. By temporarily making most grounds for eviction discretionary, we are ensuring that the tribunals can consider the impact of the pandemic on individuals before an eviction order is granted. Adding compliance with the pre-action requirements as part of the discretionary consideration strengthens that power further and is the best way of making sure that the independent judicial process takes into account the actions of the landlord.
The regulations have been drafted with input from stakeholders, representing the interests of tenants, landlords, and local authorities through the PRS resilience group that we set up to help us to respond to the pandemic. They agreed that the introduction of the regulations will help to sustain tenancies and create a level playing field for tenants. The benefits go beyond the response to the pandemic and we will be looking at what is needed to make the pre-action requirements permanent. We will take every opportunity to learn from the implementation of the temporary regulations and will continue to work with stakeholders across the sector to identify any lessons learned.
In summary, the regulations represent strength and protection for tenants in the private rented sector who are facing difficulty with rent payments as a result of the pandemic. They are proportionate, and they strike a careful balance between protecting tenants and still allowing landlords to deal with issues of non-payment of rent. I ask Parliament to support the introduction of the regulations.