Additional funding could be unlocked to fix building safety
issues through new legislation published in the Scottish
Parliament.
If passed, the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill will see a
tax charged on the construction of certain new residential
properties, in line with equivalent legislation in England.
The Bill seeks to raise around £30 million per year to help fund
work to fix residential buildings with unsafe cladding which have
no linked developer.
Latest estimates indicate that the Scottish Government's Cladding
Remediation Programme could cost £1.7 billion over a 15-year
period.
Public Finance Minister said:
“The Scottish Government is committed to doing what is right and
necessary to address the challenge of fixing buildings affected
by unsafe cladding.
“That includes putting the appropriate funding arrangements in
place to ensure that the associated costs of cladding remediation
do not fall directly onto affected homeowners.
“I know that developers share our determination to keep people
safe and this levy will ensure they make a fair contribution to
these costs, just as they will be doing in England.
“I also welcome the continued cooperation of developers who have
accepted responsibility for the assessments and any required
mitigation and remediation of their buildings.”
Background
The UK Government agreed in principle to devolve the powers
needed for a Scottish Building Safety Levy last year. Powers secured to
introduce building safety levy - gov.scot
(www.gov.scot)
The legislation – which is proposed to come into effect in April
2027 - includes provisions to exempt certain types of
development, including social and affordable housing. Details of
tax rates will be set out in regulations if MSPs approve the
Bill, consistent with the arrangements for other devolved
taxes.
The Bill sets out a provision for a regular review period for the
levy, which will be an opportunity to consider the revenue target
in light of the prevailing housing market and wider economic
conditions, as well as the emerging position on the scale and
profile of spending on our cladding remediation work.
Estimated costs for the Scottish Government's cladding
remediation programme have also been published: Cladding remediation:
capital spend forecasting - gov.scot
