Hansard

The Convener: Lab

Item 2 concerns the draft Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Prescribed Documents) Regulations 2008. I welcome the Minister for Communities and Sport, Stewart Maxw...

The Minister for Communities and Sport (Stewart Maxwell): SNP

If I may, I will make some remarks now, convener. I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss with the committee these regulations, which are laid unde...

The Convener: Lab

Thank you for those introductory remarks.Do members have any technical questions on the regulations for the minister and officials before we move on to the d...

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): Con

I will ask the minister about the timescale in relation to a seller deciding to put his property on the market. At what point will the home pack have to be a...

Edythe Murie (Scottish Government Legal Directorate):

Section 98 of the 2006 act states:"A person who is responsible for marketing a house … must possess the prescribed documents in relation to the house."That m...

David McLetchie: Con

So there will inevitably be a delay in properties being brought to the marketplace, as the seller will have to factor in the weeks that are required for the ...

Stewart Maxwell: SNP

I do not accept your interpretation. There is no reason why there would be a delay. The provision of the documents will be part of the normal process of hous...

David McLetchie: Con

I can tell you why there will be a delay in the process. Currently, if you or I wanted to sell a house, we would go to an estate agent. They would come round...

Stewart Maxwell: SNP

If you consider the overall length of the house buying and selling process, the later stages will be speeded up, because all the documentation will be availa...

David McLetchie: Con

Do you accept that a number of sellers put properties on the market on a speculative basis and that they may be discouraged from doing so by the fact that th...

The Convener: Lab

I do not know whether we are straying from technical questions on to issues that should be dealt with in the debate.

David McLetchie: Con

I think that some evidence was given about this matter by Friends Provident, which said that the volume of properties on the market might be reduced by as mu...

Stewart Maxwell: SNP

Even if you wished to put your property on the market on a speculative basis, you would still have to pay for any advertising or marketing that might be need...

David McLetchie: Con

Indeed, the corpus of the regulations brings the whole thing into effect. However, it was open to you to take the sensible decision, which would have been no...

The Convener: Lab

Even I know that that was not a technical question, Mr McLetchie.

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): Lab

I want to ask the minister two technical questions. On exceptions, can you refresh our memories on the position that was ultimately taken with regard to prop...

Stewart Maxwell: SNP

The right to buy is not covered by the regulations. Further regulations are being discussed to deal with the right-to-buy issue. David Rogers can explain som...

David Rogers (Scottish Government Housing and Regeneration Directorate):

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 dealt with right-to-buy purchases completely separately, because they are not marketed to the sitting tenant. There is a sepa...

Johann Lamont: Lab

Is the only difference the fact that, in such cases, the property is not marketed? I had understood that the driver behind the home improvement pack was, in ...

David Rogers:

The matter had to be dealt with in two separate sections in the 2006 act. The provisions under which the regulations have been made apply to the marketing of...

Johann Lamont: Lab

It was to do with the definitions of seasonal accommodation and holiday accommodation.

Edythe Murie:

Perhaps I should deal with that. There is a reference in the regulations to section 41 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, which is the pro...

Johann Lamont: Lab

Do you have an idea of how many properties will be affected?

Edythe Murie:

I am afraid that I do not know.

David Rogers:

My understanding is that the provision is intended to cover such places as holiday parks, with suites of chalets. It is not about somebody's second home, whi...

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): LD

I generally welcome the proposals. This is a big if, but if they bed in well and work out well, the new system will be a great bonus to sellers and buyers. H...

Stewart Maxwell: SNP

You are quite right that new-build properties will be excepted. As you have stated, many properties are bought off-plan or before they are completed. A subst...

The Convener: Lab

There are no more technical questions, so we move to the debate, which may last no more than 90 minutes. I invite the minister to speak to and move motion S3...

Stewart Maxwell: SNP

I have already made all the comments that I wish to make on the draft regulations. We have covered most of the points that I would otherwise have raised at t...

The Convener: Lab

I invite questions from committee members.