Office of Public Sector Information
(1) A “tenancy deposit” is a sum of money held as security for—
(a) the performance of any of the occupant’s obligations arising under or in connection with a tenancy or an occupancy arrangement, or
(b) the discharge of any of the occupant’s liabilities which so arise.
(2) A “tenancy deposit scheme” is a scheme for safeguarding tenancy deposits paid in connection with the occupation of any living accommodation.
(1) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations (“tenancy deposit regulations”)—
(a) set out conditions which a tenancy deposit scheme must meet before they can approve it under section 122,
(b) make such further provision about tenancy deposit schemes as they think fit.
(2) Tenancy deposit regulations may, in particular—
(a) make provision about the manner and circumstances in which tenancy deposits must be paid, held and repaid under an approved scheme,
(b) impose sanctions for failing to participate in, or to comply with, an approved scheme,
(c) set out a mechanism for resolving disputes relating to an approved scheme,
(d) prescribe the type of person who may administer an approved scheme,
(e) authorise the Scottish Ministers to make payments, or to give guarantees or other assistance, in connection with—
(i) the creation, administration or operation of an approved scheme,
(ii) the resolution of disputes relating to an approved scheme,
(f) set the amount, or the maximum amount, of any fee which may be charged in connection with an approved scheme,
(g) prescribe arrangements for publicising approved schemes.
(3) But tenancy deposit regulations may not—
(a) prescribe circumstances in which tenancy deposits must be paid under a tenancy or an occupancy arrangement,
(b) create offences.
(1) The Scottish Ministers may approve a tenancy deposit scheme devised by them or by any other person.
(2) Such an approval—
(a) may not be given unless tenancy deposit regulations are in force, and
(b) must be given in accordance with the tenancy deposit regulations then in force.
(3) Before approving a tenancy deposit scheme, the Scottish Ministers must—
(a) publicise the terms of the proposed scheme in such manner as they think fit, and
(b) consult—
(i) such persons representing landlords or tenants whom they think may be affected by the proposed scheme, and
(ii) such other persons as they think fit,
about the proposed scheme.
(4) The Scottish Ministers must review each approved tenancy deposit scheme from time to time and may, following any such review—
(a) take steps to secure the revision of the reviewed scheme, or
(b) withdraw their approval of the reviewed scheme.
(5) Subsections (1) to (4) apply to revised schemes in the same way as they apply to new schemes (except that that the duty imposed by subsection (3) does not apply if the Scottish Ministers think that a proposed revision is unlikely to adversely affect any person significantly).
(6) The Scottish Ministers may approve—
(a) different tenancy deposit schemes for different types of tenancy or occupancy arrangement,
(b) more than one tenancy deposit scheme for the same type of tenancy or occupancy arrangement.
In section 90(3) (declaration that deposits are not premiums) of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 58), after “obligations” insert “for rent,”.
(1) Every house in multiple occupation (“HMO”) must be licensed under this Part unless it is exempted by or under section 126, 127 or 142.
(2) A licence under this Part (an “HMO licence”) is a licence granted by a local authority authorising occupation of living accommodation as an HMO.
(1) Any living accommodation falling within subsection (2) is an HMO if it is occupied by 3 or more persons who are not all members of the same family or of one or other of two families.
(2) Living accommodation falls within this subsection if—
(a) it is a house, or
(b) it is, or forms part of, any premises or group of premises owned by the same person and its occupants share one or more of the basic amenities with each other.
(3) The “basic amenities” are—
(a) a toilet,
(b) personal washing facilities, and
(c) facilities for the preparation or provision of cooked food.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a) a person is to be treated as occupying living accommodation only if it is that person’s only or main residence,
(b) living accommodation occupied during term time by a person undertaking a full-time course of further or higher education is, at all times during that person’s residence, to be treated as being that person’s only or main residence,
(c) a patient in a health service hospital (within the meaning of section 108(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 29)) is not to be treated as occupying the hospital,
(d) a person is not to be treated as sharing a basic amenity if the living accommodation concerned has more than one of any such amenity and the person has exclusive use of at least one of them.
(1) An HMO is exempt from the requirement to be licensed under this Part if it is—
(a) occupied only by the owners of the HMO either alone or together with—
(i) any persons in the same family as any of those owners, and
(ii) any number of other persons who are unrelated to any of those owners but who are members of the same family or of one or other of two families,
(b) provided as part of—
(i) a care home service,
(ii) an independent health care service,
(iii) a school care accommodation service, or
(iv) a secure accommodation service,
registered under Part 1 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8),
(c) owned by the Crown and occupied only by members of the armed forces of the Crown (either alone or together with any persons in the same family as any of those members),
(d) a prison, a young offenders institution or a remand centre,
(e) occupied only by—
(i) persons who are members of, and fully maintained by, a religious order the main occupation of which is prayer, contemplation, education or the relief of suffering, or
(ii) a group consisting of such persons and no more than two other persons,
(f) subject to a management control order made under section 74 (order transferring landlord’s rights and obligations to local authority) of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 8), or
(g) owned by a co-operative housing association (within the meaning of section 300(1)(b) of the 1987 Act) the management of which is undertaken by general meeting.
(2) The Scottish Ministers may by order amend subsection (1) by—
(a) adding or removing the description of any type of HMO to or from those descriptions for the time being listed in that subsection, or
(b) varying any such description which is for the time being so listed.
(1) The Scottish Ministers may by order describe types of HMOs which may be exempted by a local authority from the requirement to be licensed under this Part.
(2) A local authority may by order exempt from the requirement to be licensed under this Part any HMO of a type described in an order made under subsection (1) which is situated in—
(a) the authority’s area, or
(b) any part of that area as may be specified in the order,
and the local authority may vary or revoke such an order at any time.
(3) The local authority must give notice of any order it makes, or of any variation or revocation, under subsection (2)—
(a) in a newspaper circulating in the authority’s area, and
(b) to every person entered in the register maintained by the authority under section 82(1) of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 8) (the “register of landlords”).
(4) The local authority must serve a copy of any notice given under subsection (3)(b) on any other person who—
(a) acts for the person to whom the notice is given, and
(b) is specified in the authority’s register of landlords as being a person who so acts,
but failure to comply with this subsection does not invalidate the related notice given under subsection (3)(b).
(5) Where—
(a) an order made by the Scottish Ministers under subsection (1) is revoked, or
(b) any description of a type of HMO set out in such an order is amended,
an order made by a local authority under subsection (2) ceases to have effect in so far as it relates to any type of HMO which may no longer be exempted by an order under subsection (2).
(1) Persons are to be treated as being in the same family as, and as being related to, each other for the purposes of this Part only if—
(a) they are a couple,
(b) one of them is a relative of the other, or
(c) one of them is a relative of one member of a couple and the other is a relative of the other member of that couple.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)—
(a) a “couple” means two persons who—
(i) are married or are civil partners, or
(ii) live together as husband and wife or, where they are of the same sex, in an equivalent relationship,
(b) “relative” means parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece,
(c) a relationship by the half-blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood,
(d) the stepchild of a person is to be treated as that person’s child, and
(e) a person brought up or treated by another person as if the person were that other person’s child (including any person placed with that other person, or with that other person’s family, under section 26(1)(a) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 36)) is to be treated as that other person’s child.
(1) An application to a local authority for an HMO licence may be made only by an owner of the living accommodation concerned.
(2) The local authority may determine an application for an HMO licence by—
(a) granting the HMO licence (with or without conditions), or
(b) refusing to grant the HMO licence.
(3) Schedule 4 makes provision about procedural requirements relating to an application for an HMO licence.
(1) The local authority must refuse to grant an HMO licence if—
(a) any of the persons mentioned in subsection (2) is disqualified by an order made under section 157(2), or
(b) the authority considers that any of those persons is not a fit and proper person to be authorised to permit persons to occupy any living accommodation as an HMO.
(2) Those persons are—
(a) the applicant,
(b) any agent specified in the application, and
(c) where the applicant or agent is not an individual, any director, partner or other person concerned in the management of the applicant or agent.
(3) Section 85 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 8) applies to a local authority in deciding whether a person is a fit and proper person for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) as it applies to the authority when it is deciding whether a person is a fit and proper person for the purposes of section 84(3) or (4) of that Act.
(1) The local authority may grant an HMO licence only if it considers that the living accommodation concerned—
(a) is suitable for occupation as an HMO, or
(b) can be made so suitable by including conditions in the HMO licence.
(2) In determining whether any living accommodation is, or can be made to be, suitable for occupation as an HMO the local authority must consider—
(a) its location,
(b) its condition,
(c) any amenities it contains,
(d) the type and number of persons likely to occupy it,
(e) the safety and security of persons likely to occupy it, and
(f) the possibility of undue public nuisance.
(1) Where a local authority refuses to grant an HMO licence the local authority may not consider a further application for an HMO licence by the same applicant—
(a) in relation to the living accommodation concerned, or
(b) where the application was refused because of section 130(1)(b), in relation to any living accommodation,
within one year of the date on which notice of the refusal is given to the applicant under section 158.
(2) This section does not prevent the local authority from considering a further application for an HMO licence where it is satisfied that there has been a material change of circumstances.
(1) An HMO licence may include such conditions as the local authority thinks fit.
(2) The Scottish Ministers may by order require local authorities to include in HMO licences of such description as may be specified in the order such conditions as may be so specified.
(3) A condition included in an HMO licence may specify a date from which that condition is to have effect (and section 134(1) or, as the case may be, 138(8) is of no effect in so far as it purports to bring any condition which specifies such a date into effect before that date).
(4) Where an HMO licence includes, or is varied to include, a condition which requires work to be carried out in any living accommodation, the condition must also specify the date by which that work must be completed.
(5) No date may be specified for the purposes of subsection (3) or (4) which would—
(a) cause a condition of an HMO licence to have effect, or
(b) require the work required by such a condition to be completed,
before the date by which the local authority reasonably considers that the licence holder can secure compliance with the condition or, as the case may be, complete the work.
(1) An HMO licence—
(a) has effect from, and
(b) expires 3 years (or such shorter period of not less than 6 months as may be specified in the licence) after,
the latest of the dates set out in subsection (2).
(2) Those dates are—
(a) the date on which notice of the decision to grant it is served on the licence holder under section 158,
(b) where the local authority was required to consider a valid written representation, or decided to consider a late written representation, about the application for the HMO licence—
(i) the last date on which the decision to grant the HMO licence may be appealed to the sheriff by the respondent, or
(ii) where such an appeal is made, the date on which it is abandoned or finally determined other than by quashing the decision to grant the licence, and
(c) any later date as may be specified in the HMO licence.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to an HMO licence granted in pursuance of paragraph 9(6) of schedule 4.
(4) An HMO licence which is so granted—
(a) has effect from, and
(b) expires one year after,
the date by which the local authority was required by sub-paragraph (1) of that paragraph to determine the application for that licence.
(5) Sections 135 to 137 set out circumstances in which an HMO licence is to continue to have effect until a later date or, as the case may be, to expire early.
(1) Where—
(a) an HMO licence has been granted (an “existing HMO licence”), and
(b) an application for a new HMO licence is made in relation to the living accommodation concerned before the existing HMO licence has expired,
the existing HMO licence expires on the date set out in subsection (2).
(2) That date is—
(a) where the new HMO licence is granted, the date from which the new HMO licence has effect, and
(b) where the local authority refuses to grant the new HMO licence, the latest of the following dates—
(i) the last date on which the decision to refuse to grant the new HMO licence may be appealed to the sheriff,
(ii) where such an appeal is made, the date on which it is abandoned or finally determined other than by quashing the decision to refuse to grant the new HMO licence, and
(iii) the date on which the existing HMO licence would expire had an application for a new HMO licence not been made.
(1) Subsection (2) applies where—
(a) an HMO licence has effect on the date on which ownership of the living accommodation concerned is transferred by way of sale or otherwise from the licence holder to another person (the “new owner”), and
(b) the new owner is entered in the register maintained by the local authority under section 82(1) of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 8) (the “register of landlords”).
(2) Where this subsection applies, the HMO licence—
(a) is to be treated as having been granted to the new owner, but
(b) subject to sections 135 and 137, expires one month after the date on which ownership of the living accommodation is transferred.
(3) Where the condition in subsection (1)(a) is satisfied but the new owner is not entered in the register of landlords, the HMO licence expires on the date on which ownership of the living accommodation is transferred.
(1) Where a sole licence holder dies, the HMO licence—
(a) is to be treated as having been granted to the licence holder’s executor, but
(b) expires 3 months after the date of the death.
(2) The local authority may, on the application of a licence holder’s executor, extend the period mentioned in subsection (1)(b) if it is satisfied that it is reasonable to do so for the purposes of winding up the licence holder’s estate.
(1) The local authority may vary an HMO licence at any time.
(2) The local authority may do so on the application of the licence holder or of its own accord.
(3) But an HMO licence may not be so varied so as to shorten the period for which the licence has effect.
(4) The local authority must serve notice of any proposed variation on—
(a) where the local authority is proposing the variation, the licence holder,
(b) the chief officer of the fire and rescue authority, and
(c) the chief constable,
and must invite each of them to make oral representations about the proposed variation.
(5) Where the local authority is proposing the variation, the notice required by subsection (4) must give the authority’s reasons for doing so.
(6) The notice and invitation required by subsection (4) must be served not less than 7 days before the local authority proposes to hear any invited representation.
(7) The local authority must consider any such representations made before it decides whether to vary the HMO licence.
(8) A variation of an HMO licence has effect from the latest of the following dates—
(a) the date on which notice of the decision to vary the HMO licence is served on the licence holder under section 158,
(b) where the licence holder, the chief officer of the fire and rescue authority or the chief constable has objected to the variation—
(i) the last date on which the decision to vary the HMO licence may be appealed to the sheriff, or
(ii) where such an appeal is made, the date on which it is abandoned or finally determined other than by quashing the decision to vary, and
(c) any later date as may be specified in the notice of the decision to vary the HMO licence served on the licence holder under section 158.
(1) The local authority may revoke an HMO licence at any time if it considers—
(a) that, if an application for that HMO licence were to be made at that time, it would be required by section 130 (suitability of applicants and agents) to refuse to grant it,
(b) that the living accommodation concerned is no longer suitable for occupation as an HMO and cannot be made so suitable by varying the conditions included in the HMO licence, or
(c) that any condition of an HMO licence has been breached (regardless of whether the local authority has taken any other action, or of whether criminal proceedings have been commenced, in respect of that breach).
(2) The local authority must serve notice of a proposed revocation on—
(a) the licence holder,
(b) any person who has made a written representation which the local authority considers relevant to a proposed revocation,
(c) the chief officer of the fire and rescue authority, and
(d) the chief constable,
inviting each of them to make oral representations about the proposal.
(3) A notice under subsection (2) must—
(a) set out the ground on which the local authority proposes to revoke the HMO licence,
(b) be accompanied by a copy of any written representation which the local authority considers relevant to the proposed revocation, and
(c) be given not less than 21 days before the proposed hearing.
(4) The local authority must consider any oral representations made at the hearing before it decides whether to revoke the HMO licence.
(5) A revocation of an HMO licence has effect from—
(a) the last date on which the decision to revoke the HMO licence may be appealed to the sheriff, or
(b) where such an appeal is made, the date on which it is abandoned or finally determined other than by quashing the decision to revoke.
(1) A notice under section 158 notifying the licence holder of a decision to grant or vary an HMO licence must be accompanied by the HMO licence or, as the case may be, by the HMO licence as varied.
(2) A notice under section 164(3)(b)(ii) notifying a remaining licence holder of the variation of the HMO licence must be accompanied by the HMO licence as varied.
(3) A licence holder who requests the local authority to provide a certified copy of the HMO licence is, if the request is reasonable, entitled to be given such a certified copy.
(4) Any such copy HMO licence which purports to be certified by a proper officer of the local authority is sufficient evidence of the terms of the HMO licence.
Housing (Scotland) Act 2006