Legislation to transform homelessness prevention and improve
standards in rented housing has been passed by the Scottish
Parliament.
The Housing (Scotland) Bill will place a duty on certain public
bodies to prevent people from losing their homes by asking about
their housing situation and taking action.
The Bill will also broaden Ministers' powers to implement
‘Awaab's Law', which will ensure landlords promptly address
issues that are hazardous to tenants' health, starting with damp
and mould.
The legal measure was named after Awaab Ishak who died in 2020
after being exposed to mould in his home in Rochdale in north
west England. The law will now be implemented in Scotland's
rented sector from March 2026, subject to Parliament's agreement.
Other measures in the Bill include giving Ministers the power to
implement a system of long-term rent controls, keeping rent
affordable for tenants.
Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan said:
“Passing the Housing (Scotland) Bill is a landmark moment for how
we prevent homelessness in Scotland. Whilst we already have some
of the strongest homelessness rights of any country, we will now
go even further to a create a gold-standard homelessness
prevention system.
“Passing this groundbreaking legislation, coupled with the
Housing Emergency Action Plan published earlier this month, shows
just how serious we are about tackling Scotland's housing crisis.
“Families across Scotland will have the confidence that their
rented home will be free from damp and mould as we take forward
work to implement ‘Awaab's Law'. We will now work at pace to lay
regulations to implement these protections from March.
“Scotland has already led the way in protecting tenants and
providing strong rights when people are homeless and now the
Housing Bill will revolutionise homelessness prevention and
ensure rents are kept affordable."
Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and communications for Crisis
Scotland, said:
“Today's vote marks a landmark moment in Scotland's journey
towards ending homelessness.
“We already have strong rights in place for people experiencing
homelessness, but as we see from our frontline services, we need
to do far more to prevent people losing their home in the first
place. That means allowing people entering a housing crisis to
get help earlier, so they can get support before it is too late.
“At Crisis we have been calling for new protections to stop
people being forced from their homes for years. These new
changes, contained in the Housing Bill, hold the potential to
create a truly world-leading homelessness system, where everyone
has a safe, secure place to live.”
