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Scottish government to extend protections against eviction until March 2021
The Scottish government has announced that it plans to ensure that rules extending the notice period for renters facing eviction will remain in place until March next year.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament yesterday that the government plans to extend the rules that see social and private tenants given six months notice before being evicted from their homes.
Ms Sturgeon was speaking in response to concerns raised by Green MSP Patrick Harvie who said that 350 eviction notices had been served during the pandemic, warning that a “tidal wave of evictions” was on the way.
In April, the Scottish government introduced emergency legislation that increased the eviction notice period to six months for arrears cases and three months for anti-social behaviour cases.
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In response to Mr Harvies concerns, Ms Sturgeon said: “The government wants to extend that until March 2021 – I can’t say that is definitely happening because it is up to this parliament to vote on that but if my party and his party vote for it then there should be no block on that.”
The Scottish National Party currently rules as a minority government and usually depends on votes from the Green Party to pass legislation.
Extending the protections for renters was one of the 105 recommendations from Scotland’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, which was reconvened earlier this year to reevaluate Scotland’s homelessness policies in the wake of COVID-19.
The move has been welcomed by campaigners on social media, including Shelter Scotland and Citizens Advice Scotland.
However, the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations has previously urged the government not to extend the provisions as it argued the changes were leading to some tenants choosing not to pay rent.
Ms Sturgeon’s announcement follows a similar move by the Welsh government which announced in April that notice periods were being temporarily extended from three to six months.
Since March, possession proceedings have been completely on hold in England and Wales, however the ban on evictions is due to end this month.
