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No social or private renters will be evicted because of coronavirus, Scottish government confirms
The Scottish government has confirmed that no social or private tenant will be evicted as a result of financial hardship caused by coronavirus.
Scottish communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “People should not lose their homes because of financial pressure caused by coronavirus and we will take all possible action, including legal action, to protect them.”
“We have told all landlords they should support tenants and signpost them to the help and support available, including applying for Universal Credit and Discretionary Housing Payments.
“We have been working closely with the representative bodies for social housing landlords – the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and Glasgow West of Scotland Forum (GWSF) – and can confirm that there will be no evictions in the social housing sector due to financial hardship resulting from COVID-19.”
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It comes after first minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament last week that nobody should lose their home due to the virus, adding that her government “will take action if we find that any social landlord was contemplating raising eviction proceedings against anyone in these circumstances”.
In response to Ms Sturgeon’s comments, Sally Thomas, chief executive of the SFHA, said: “We, of course, agree with the first minister that no one should face eviction as a result of financial hardship caused by the coronavirus crisis. This is absolutely the right thing to do socially and morally.”
“However, rental income is vital for housing associations and co-operatives as social not-for-profit businesses. It allows them to provide support and services for tenants and to carry out essential repairs and maintenance work.”
She added that the SFHA will work with the Scottish government to ensure that its members and their tenants can cope with the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government has also confirmed changes to the rules surrounding the eviction of private renters.
Under current Scottish legislation, private landlords can move to evict a tenant if the individual is in arrears for at least three months in a row and if at least one month’s rent is unpaid.
However, first-tier housing tribunals will no longer uphold this if the reason for non-payment of rent is a delay in the payment of benefits including housing benefit or Universal Credit.
Meanwhile, the rent arrears period before landlords can seek to evict is temporarily being extended from three months to six.
Last week, the UK government announced a complete ban on evictions for social and private tenants for an initial period of three months.
Ms Campbell said: “I am aware of the move by the UK government to temporarily halt all evictions. We are currently considering whether similar measures would help, in the context of our own emerging response to the impacts of COVID-19.”
