Rent

Rent will still be due under the tenancy agreement and all tenants that have the facilities to pay rent as normal are expected to continue to do so. We appreciate that each tenant's circumstances are different and should any approach us with financial difficulties we will facilitate dialogue between yourself and the tenants to reach an agreeable way forward. The Government support for self employed and furloughed workers should reduce uncertainty around tenant finances and return some level of security.

Evictions

The priority for Government is to ensure that no-one is left homeless due to financial difficulties relating to COVID-19, and the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill due in parliament today will increase the notice period for tenancies to up to six months, depending on the grounds for eviction. The Bill will automatically expire after six months, but may be extended by the Scottish Parliament for two further periods of six months.

Safety inspections

Local authorities have been asked to take a pragmatic and common sense approach to enforcement of Gas, Electrical and Fire safety inspections. The advice that has been given to landlords and letting agents is that routine certification is postponed during the crisis and will be carried out as soon as possible once the crisis is over. The crisis has also had a knock-on effect on The Energy Efficiency (Domestic Private Rented Property (Scotland)) Regulations 2020. The Government do not want to put unnecessary pressure on local authorities, tenants and workers at a time when social distancing is mandated, and so the work on improving energy efficiency will only resume when the current crisis comes to an end.