After the Scottish Parliament this week passed the Housing Bill, SFHA's External Affairs Co-ordinator Tom Ockendon outlines what the Bill will mean for housing associations and co-operatives.

The Housing Bill has made its way through Parliament and barring any last-minute hiccups will soon become the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025. Introduced in March 2024 by then Minister for Tenants Rights, Patrick Harvie MSP, at the time of the Bute House Agreement, it was initially seen as a Scottish Green Party Bill but was taken on by the SNP after that agreement collapsed in April 2024.  

The Bill as proposed focused on homelessness prevention, expanding tenants' rights, and rent controls in the private sector. However, at Stage 2 and Stage 3 there were around 1000 amendments lodged to change aspects of the Bill. A key theme of the Bill has been a lack of detail and clarity on key issues, and this continued all the way to its passing on Tuesday this week. 

SFHA supported a number of measures contained within the Bill, not least on homelessness prevention. Many of the Bill’s other measures such as a tenant’s right to decorate their home or keep a pet are rights social tenants already benefit from. In terms of homelessness prevention, we secured several key amendments on providing detail as to the ‘Ask and Act’ duties and on greater information sharing between relevant bodies. There will also be a forthcoming consultation on replacing the intentionality test as it applies to homeless households. 

A central part of the Bill was the introduction of rent controls for the private sector. Whilst we did not take a view on the principle of private sector rent control, we did call for Mid-Market Rent (MMR) homes to be made exempt from these provisions. Having listened to members on the damaging impact rent controls would have on development, we engaged Scottish Government and other political parties on this issue and worked hard to gain an exemption. Although there was no exemption on the face of the Bill, despite cross-party support and attempts at Stage 2 and 3, we are assured by the Scottish Government’s commitment to exempt MMR as part of the Housing Emergency Action Plan. 

At Stage 2, the most substantive change to the Bill was the introduction by the Scottish Government of amendments relating to a Scottish equivalent of Awaab’s Law. These will bring in timescales for landlords to address any potential maintenance in tenants' homes, starting with damp and mould. It is the Scottish Government’s intention for these provisions to be brought in by the summer of 2026 but as yet we are still awaiting key details. SFHA alongside many of our members are engaging with the Government to flesh out what this will look like in practice. 

As we digest what the Bill means for housing associations and co-operatives and gain further information from Scottish Government, we will be able to provide members with more detailed information on key parts of the Bill and how your organisation will need to respond. 

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Public Affairs Team: Jen Gracie, Public Affairs and Media Manager Jgracie@sfha.co.uk ; Tom Ockendon, External Affairs Co-ordinator Tockendon@sfha.co.uk  

SFHA Chief Executive Richard Meade has also written the following article reflecting on how we have helped to shape the Housing Bill.