Housing (Scotland) Act 2010

43 Inquiries: general powers

(1) The Regulator, when making inquiries, has the following general powers in addition to the powers conferred by section 48 and other provisions of this Act.

(2) The Regulator has a right of access at all reasonable times to—

(a) any premises occupied by the social landlord concerned, and

(b) any document or other information relating to the social landlord concerned which the Regulator believes to be relevant to the inquiries.

(3) The social landlord concerned and any person in premises accessed under subsection (2) must provide such facilities and assistance as the Regulator may reasonably request in connection with the inquiries.

(4) A person holding or accountable for any document or other information of a kind described in subsection (2) must, if so required, attend before the Regulator in person to produce the document or, as the case may be, give the information.

(5) The Regulator may inspect, copy, make extracts from or take away any document or other information found on premises accessed under subsection (2) (including any information accessible by computers on the premises but stored elsewhere).

(6) It is an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse—

(a) to fail to comply with subsection (3) or (4), or

(b) to otherwise obstruct the Regulator from properly exercising its powers when making inquiries.

(7) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (6) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.