Rent (Scotland) Act 1984

PART III Protection against Harassment and Eviction without due process of Law

22 Unlawful eviction and harassment of occupier

(1) If any person unlawfully deprives the residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of the premises or any part thereof or attempts to do so he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the residential occupier had ceased to reside in the premises.

(2) If any person with intent to cause the residential occupier of any premises—

(a) to give up the occupation of the premises or any part thereof; or

(b) to refrain from exercising any right or pursuing any remedy in respect of the premises or part thereof;

does acts calculated to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises as a residence, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both; and

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prejudice any liability or remedy to which a person guilty of an offence thereunder may be subject in civil proceedings.

(5) In this section " residential occupier ", in relation to any premises, means a person occupying the premises as a residence, whether under a contract or by virtue of any enactment or rule of law giving him the right to remain in occupation or restricting the right of any other person to recover possession of the premises.

23 Prohibition of eviction without due process of law

(1) Where any premises have been let as a dwelling under a tenancy which is not a statutorily protected tenancy within the meaning of this Part of this Act or a right of a kind to which Part VII of this Act applies to use a dwelling-house has been granted before or after the commencement of this Act and—

(a) the tenancy or, as the case may be, the right to use (in this Part of this Act referred to as the former tenancy) has come to an end ; but

(b) the occupier continues to reside in the premises or part of them;

it shall not be lawful for the owner to enforce against the occupier, otherwise than by proceedings in the court, his right to recover possession of the premises.

(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Act a person who, under the terms of his employment, had exclusive possession of any premises otherwise than as a tenant shall be deemed to have been a tenant and the expressions " let " and " tenancy " shall be construed accordingly.

(3) In this Part of this Act " the owner ", in relation to any premises, means the person who, as against the occupier, is entitled to possession thereof; and in this section "the occupier ", in relation to any premises, means any person lawfully residing in the premises or part of them at the termination of the former tenancy.

(4) The preceding provisions of this section shall, with the necessary modifications, apply where the owner's right to recover possession arises on the death of the tenant under a statutory tenancy.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be taken to affect any rule of law prohibiting the securing of possession otherwise than by due process of law.

24 Special provisions with respect to agricultural employees

(1) The following provisions of this section shall apply where the tenant under the former tenancy occupied the premises under the terms of his employment as a person employed in agriculture (as defined in section 17 of the [1949 c. 30.] Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Act 1949).

(2) In this section " the occupier ", in relation to any premises, means—

(a) the tenant under the former tenancy; or

(b) the widow or widower of the tenant under the former tenancy residing with him at his death or, if the former tenant leaves no such widow or widower, any member of his family residing with him at his death.

(3) Without prejudice to any power of the court apart from this section to postpone the operation or suspend the execution of a decree of removing or warrant of ejection or other like order (in this section referred to as an " order for possession "), if in proceedings by the owner against the occupier the court makes an order for the possession of the premises the court may suspend the execution of the order on such terms and conditions, including conditions as to the payment by the occupier of arrears of rent, compensation to the owner for loss of possession and otherwise as the court thinks reasonable.

(4) Where the order for possession is made within the period of six months beginning with the date when the former tenancy came to an end, then, without prejudice to any powers of the court under the preceding provisions of this section or apart from this section to postpone the operation or suspend the execution of the order for a longer period, the court shall suspend the execution of the order (on such terms and conditions, including conditions as to the payment by the occupier of arrears of rent, compensation to the owner for loss of possession and otherwise as the court thinks reasonable) for the remainder of the period of six months aforesaid unless the court—

(a) is satisfied either—

(i) that other suitable accommodation is, or will within that period be made, available to the occupier; or

(ii) that the efficient management of any agricultural land or the efficient carrying on of any agricultural operations would be seriously prejudiced unless the premises are available for occupation by a person employed or to be employed by the owner; or

(iii) that greater hardship (being hardship in respect of matters other than the carrying on of such a business as aforesaid) would be caused by the suspension of the order until the end of that period than by its execution within that period; or

(iv) that the occupier, or any person residing or lodging with the occupier, has been causing damage to the premises or has been guilty of conduct which is a nuisance or annoyance to persons occupying other premises; and

(b) considers that it would be reasonable not to suspend the execution of the order for the remainder of that period;

but a decision of the court not to suspend the execution of the order under this subsection shall not prejudice any other power of the court to postpone the operation or suspend the execution of the order for the whole or part of the period of six months aforesaid.

(5) Where the court has under the preceding provisions of this section suspended the execution of an order for possession it may from time to time vary the period of suspension or terminate it and may vary any terms or conditions imposed by virtue of this section.

(6) In considering whether or how to exercise its powers under subsection (3) of this section the court shall have regard to all the circumstances and, in particular, to the following, that is to say—

(a) whether other suitable accommodation is or can be made available to the occupier;

(b) whether the efficient management of any agricultural land or the efficient carrying on of any agricultural operations would be seriously prejudiced unless the premises were available for occupation by a person employed or to be employed by the owner; and

(c) whether greater hardship would be caused by the suspension of the execution of the order than by its execution without suspension or further suspension.

(7) Where in proceedings for the recovery of possession of the premises the court makes an order for possession but suspends the execution of the order by virtue of this section, it shall make no order for expenses, unless it appears to the court, having regard to the conduct of the owner or of the occupier, that there are special reasons for making such an order.

(8) Where, in the case of an order for possession of the premises to which subsection (4) of this section applies, the execution of the order is not suspended under that subsection or, the execution of the order having been so suspended, the suspension is terminated, then, if it is subsequently made to appear to the court that the failure to suspend the execution of the order or, as the case may be, the termination of the suspension was—

(a) attributable to the provisions of paragraph (a)(ii) of that subsection, and

(b) due to misrepresentation or concealment of material facts by the owner of the premises,

the court may order the owner to pay the occupier such sum as appears sufficient as compensation for damage or loss sustained by the occupier as a result of that failure or termination.

25 Interpretation

(1) In this Part of this Act—

• "the court", subject to the provisions of this section, means the sheriff;

• " statutorily protected tenancy " means a protected tenancy or a tenancy to which any of the following Acts apply— (i) the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts 1886 to 1931 ;

  (i)

  the [1949 c. 25.] Tenancy of Shops (Scotland) Act 1949 ;

  (ii)

  the [1949 c. 75.] Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1949;

  (iii)

  the [1955 c. 21.] Crofters (Scotland) Acts 1955 and [1961 c. 58.] 1961.

(2) Nothing in this Part of this Act shall affect any jurisdiction of the Court of Session in relation to actions of removing.

(3) Nothing in this Part of this Act shall affect the operation of—

(a) section 19 of the [1842 c. 94.] Defence Act 1842 ;

(b) section 89 of the [1845 c. 19.] Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1845 ;

(c) section 403 of the [1892 c. 55.] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892.

26 Application to Crown

In so far as this Part of this Act requires the taking of proceedings in the court for the recovery of possession or confers any powers on the court, it shall be binding on the Crown.

27 Application to sheriff

Where an application is made to the sheriff for an order under this Part of this Act, it shall be made by way of summary cause within the meaning of the [1971 c. 58.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971.