The Tenant Information Packs (Assured Tenancies) (Scotland) Order 2013

Scottish Statutory Instruments

2013 No. 20

Housing

The Tenant Information Packs (Assured Tenancies) (Scotland) Order 2013

Made

24th January 2013

Laid before the Scottish Parliament

28th January 2013

Coming into force

1st May 2013

The Scottish Ministers make the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 30B(1) and 53(3) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988(1) and all other powers enabling them to do so.

In accordance with section 30B(2) of that Act, the Scottish Ministers have consulted with such persons and bodies as they consider representative of the interests of tenants, private sector landlords and persons who act as agents for such landlords, and with such other persons and bodies as they consider appropriate.

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Tenant Information Packs (Assured Tenancies) (Scotland) Order 2013 and comes into force on 1st May 2013.

(2) In this Order—

“the 1988 Act” means the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988;

“electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(2);

“landlord” and “tenant” include the persons who are to be the landlord and the tenant under a tenancy that is being created;

“standard tenancy documents” are the documents specified by article 2; and

“Tenant Information Pack” is the document referred to in article 2(d).

Specified documents

2.  For the purposes of section 30A(1) of the 1988 Act (standard tenancy documents a landlord is under a duty to provide) the following documents are specified—

(a) a copy of the document stating the terms of the tenancy that is required by section 30(1) of the 1988 Act;

(b) where the tenancy is a short assured tenancy, a copy of the notice that is required by section 32(1)(b) of the 1988 Act;

(c) a copy of any gas safety record that requires to be given to the tenant in accordance with regulation 36(6) of the of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998(3); and

(d) a Tenant Information Pack in the form set out in the Schedule.

Provision of specified documents

3.—(1) The standard tenancy documents may be provided together or separately, and no copy of a document need be provided in pursuance of the duty under section 30A(1) of the 1988 Act if the tenant has already acknowledged receipt of that document in writing or by electronic communication.

(2) No charge may be made to the tenant for provision of the standard tenancy documents.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the tenant must be provided with the standard tenancy documents in a written format.

(4) The tenant may be provided with a standard tenancy document by electronic communication if—

(a) any enactment (whether made before or after the making of this Order) authorises provision of that document by electronic communication, whether for the purposes of this Order or for any other purpose; or

(b) the tenant has advised the landlord that the tenant is content to receive documents by electronic communication, has supplied an email address for that purpose and the document is transmitted to that address.

(5) Subject to paragraph (6), where there are joint tenants each of those tenants must be provided with a copy of the record referred to in article 2(c), but the other standard tenancy documents may be provided to the tenants jointly.

(6) Unless the landlord has acknowledgement from a joint tenant that he or she has received a joint Tenant Information Pack that has been provided to joint tenants, the landlord must no later than the date on which the assured tenancy commences provide that joint tenant with a separate copy of the Tenant Information Pack.

Effect of provision of prescribed documents

4.—(1) Provision of a copy of a document referred to in paragraph (a) or (c) of article 2 in pursuance of the duty under section 30A(1) of the 1988 Act also satisfies the obligations in the enactments referred to in those paragraphs that require copies of those documents to be provided to a tenant.

(2) Provision of the Tenant Information Pack satisfies the obligation of the landlord to provide the tenant with written information about the effect of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006(4) (the landlord’s duty to repair and maintain).

Acknowledgement of receipt of Tenant Information Pack

5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the landlord must, when providing the Tenant Information Pack, request a signed acknowledgement from the tenant that it has been provided.

(2) Where the tenant has been provided with the Tenant Information Pack by electronic communication by virtue of article 3(4)(b), the landlord may request that its receipt be acknowledged by electronic communication.

M J BURGESS

Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers

St Andrew’s House,

Edinburgh

24th January 2013

Article 2

SCHEDULE Tenant Information Pack

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision in relation to the duty of persons who are to be landlords under assured tenancies to provide the person who is to be the tenant with prescribed documents.

Article 2 prescribes the documents that must be provided. Failure by the landlord to provide these documents, where they are applicable to the tenancy, is a criminal offence. These include a Tenant Information Pack, which is set out in the Schedule and contains information about the tenancy agreement, property, landlord, tenancy rights and tenancy responsibilities.

Article 3 prescribes how the documents are to be provided. The documents may be provided together or separately and must be provided at no cost to a tenant. The documents must be provided in a written format except as specified, such as where the tenant is content to receive documents electronically. It prescribes how documents are to be provided where there are joint tenants.

Provision of the prescribed documents is a requirement of section 31A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, but provision of copies of two of the prescribed documents is also required by other legislation. Article 4 provides that provision in pursuance of the section 31A requirement also satisfies the obligations in those enactments, and provides that provision of the Tenant Information Pack fulfils the landlord’s duty under separate legislation to provide information about his or her repair and maintenance obligations.

Article 5 sets out the requirements for acknowledgement by the tenant that the Tenancy Information Pack been received.

(1)

1988 c.43. Sections 30A and 30B are inserted by section 33 of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011 (asp 14).

(2)

2000 c.7. Section 15 was amended by paragraph 158 of Schedule 17 to the Communications Act 2003 (c.21).

(3)

S.I. 1998/2451.

(4)

2006 asp 1.