Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

Power to seek information relating to tenancies

14 Information that may be sought by local authority or the Scottish Ministers

(1) A local authority may request the information mentioned in subsection (3), in relation to any house for which information is included in a person’s entry in the authority’s landlord register, from—

(a) the person whose entry in the register includes information in relation to the house, or

(b) any other person acting as landlord under a tenancy or occupancy arrangement granted by that person to which the house (or part of it) is subject.

(2) The Scottish Ministers may request the information mentioned in subsection (3), in relation to any house for which information is included in a person’s entry in the landlord register of any local authority, from—

(a) the person whose entry in the register includes information in relation to the house, or

(b) any other person acting as landlord under a tenancy or occupancy arrangement granted by that person to which the house (or part of it) is subject.

(3) The information referred to in subsections (1) and (2), in relation to any house (or part of the house) mentioned in either of those subsections, is—

(a) the address of the house,

(b) a description of the type of tenancy or occupancy arrangement to which the house (or part of it) is subject,

(c) the amount and frequency of rent payable under any relevant tenancy to which the house (or part of it) is subject,

(d) whether the rent payable includes payment of any costs associated with the house and, if it does, the amount of each such cost and the matter to which it relates,

(e) in relation to the most recent increase in the rent payable under any relevant tenancy to which the house (or part of it) is subject—

(i) the date of the rent increase, and

(ii) the amount and frequency of the rent payable under the tenancy immediately before the rent increase took effect,

(f) the size of the house (or where the tenancy or occupancy arrangement relates to part of the house, the size of that part of the house) including—

(i) the number of each of the following rooms in the house (or part of it)—

(A) bedrooms,

(B) public rooms,

(C) kitchens,

(D) bathrooms,

(E) other rooms,

(ii) the number of storeys in the house (or part of it), and

(iii) the floor area of the house (or part of it),

(g) whether the house (or part of it) is fully furnished, partially furnished or unfurnished by the landlord and, if it is partially furnished, a brief description of the furnishings provided by the landlord,

(h) the type of the house (such as whether it is a detached, semi-detached, terraced or flatted property),

(i) whether the house (or part of it) is subject to a tenancy or occupancy arrangement granted by a person other than the person entered in the relevant landlord register and, if it is, the name and address of, and other contact information for, the person acting as landlord under the tenancy or occupancy arrangement,

(j) the quality, state of repair, and energy efficiency of the house.

(4) A local authority or the Scottish Ministers may not exercise the power under subsection (1) or (2) (as the case may be) more than once in a 12 month period in respect of the same person in relation to the same information about the same house (or the same part of a house that is subject to more than one tenancy or occupancy arrangement).

(5) In addition, a local authority or the Scottish Ministers may request the information mentioned in subsection (3) in relation to a house mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) (as the case may be) from a person with a right to use the house (or part of it) under a tenancy or occupancy arrangement.

(6) The power conferred by subsection (1) or (5) may be exercised by a local authority—

(a) for the purpose of—

(i) enabling or assisting the exercise of any of its functions under this Chapter,

(ii) assisting the Scottish Ministers in the exercise of any of their functions under this Chapter,

(b) subject to subsection (4) and any guidance under subsection (8), at such times and intervals as it considers appropriate.

(7) The power conferred by subsection (2) or (5) may be exercised by the Scottish Ministers—

(a) for the purpose of or in connection with—

(i) enabling or assisting the exercise of any of their functions under this Chapter,

(ii) assisting a local authority in the exercise of any of its functions under this Chapter,

(b) subject to subsection (4), at such times and intervals as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate.

(8) In making a request under subsection (1) or (5), a local authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Scottish Ministers about the form, content and frequency of such a request.

(9) In this section—

• “house” is to be construed in accordance with section 101 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004,

• “landlord register”, in relation to a local authority, means the register prepared and maintained by the local authority for the purpose of Part 8 of that Act,

• “occupancy arrangement” has the meaning given by section 101(1) of that Act,

• “relevant tenancy” has the meaning given by section 1(5) of this Act,

• “tenancy” includes a sub-tenancy.

(10) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify this section so as to add or remove information that may be requested by a local authority or by them under—

(a) subsection (1) or (2) (as the case may be), or

(b) subsection (5).

(11) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify this section so as to add or remove descriptions of persons from whom information may be sought by local authorities or the Scottish Ministers under subsection (1) or (2) (as the case may be).

15 Information sharing and cooperation between local authorities and the Scottish Ministers

(1) A local authority may share any information obtained by it under any provision of this Chapter with—

(a) the Scottish Ministers for the purpose of or in connection with—

(i) assisting the Scottish Ministers in the exercise of any of their functions under this Chapter, or

(ii) enabling or assisting the local authority in the exercise of any of its own functions under this Chapter, or

(b) another local authority for the purpose of or in connection with—

(i) assisting the other local authority in the exercise of any of its functions under this Chapter, or

(ii) enabling or assisting the local authority in the exercise of any of its own functions under this Chapter.

(2) The Scottish Ministers may share any information obtained by them under any provision of this Chapter with a local authority for the purpose of or in connection with—

(a) assisting the local authority in the exercise of any of its functions under this Chapter, or

(b) enabling or assisting the Scottish Ministers in the exercise of any of their own functions under this Chapter.

(3) In this section, references to sharing information obtained by a person under any provision of this Chapter include references to sharing information so obtained that has been collated, analysed or otherwise processed by (or on behalf of) the person.

(4) In exercising their powers under section 14(1) or (2), local authorities and the Scottish Ministers must cooperate with each other to seek to ensure that so far as possible they collectively do not make a request more than once in a 12 month period for the same information from the same person about the same house (or the same part of a house for which there is more than one tenancy or occupancy arrangement).

16 Information holder’s failure to provide information sought

(1) This section applies if—

(a) a requester issues a request for information to a person (“the information holder”) under section 14(1) or (2) (as the case may be), and

(b) the information holder fails to provide all of the information within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the information holder received the request (in this section, the information that has not been so provided by the information holder is referred to as “the outstanding information”).

(2) The requester may give notice in writing to the information holder of its intention to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) unless the requester is satisfied that the information holder has provided all of the outstanding information to the relevant person during the relevant period.

(3) The requester may apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) only if it has given notice under subsection (2) to the information holder and either—

(a) the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the information holder received the notice has ended and the information holder has not notified the requester in writing that the information holder has provided all of the outstanding information to the relevant person during the relevant period, or

(b) the information holder has notified the requester in writing within that 28 day period that the information holder has provided all of the outstanding information to the relevant person during the relevant period and the requester, having carried out a review and considered any written representations made by or on behalf of the information holder, is satisfied—

(i) on the conclusion of the review, that the information holder—

(A) has failed to provide it with any of the outstanding information, and

(B) has not provided this information to the relevant person during the relevant period, and

(ii) that the information holder does not have a reasonable excuse for the failure.

(4) But the requester may not apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) after the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the information holder received the request from the requester under section 14(1) or (2).

(5) Where an application is made by the requester under subsection (3), the First-tier Tribunal may make an order under subsection (6) if—

(a) at the time the First-tier Tribunal receives the application, the information holder—

(i) has failed to provide the requester with any of the outstanding information, and

(ii) has not provided this information to the relevant person during the relevant period, and

(b) the First-tier Tribunal is satisfied that the information holder does not have a reasonable excuse for the failure.

(6) An order under this subsection is one requiring the information holder to pay the requester an amount not exceeding £1,000.

(7) In making an order under subsection (6), the First-tier Tribunal may, if it considers it to be appropriate, also order the information holder to provide any of the outstanding information to the requester.

(8) In giving notice under subsection (2), a local authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Scottish Ministers about the form and content of such notices.

(9) In this section—

• “relevant period”, in relation to the request made by the requester, means the period of 12 months ending with the day on which the information holder received the request,

• “relevant person”—

  (a)

  where the requester is a local authority, means the Scottish Ministers,

  (b)

  where the requester is the Scottish Ministers, means the local authority for the area in which the house that is the subject of the requester’s request is situated,

• “requester” means—

  (a)

  in the case of a request under section 14(1), the local authority that made the request,

  (b)

  in the case of a request under section 14(2), the Scottish Ministers.

17 Information holder’s provision of false information

(1) This section applies if—

(a) a requester issues a request for information to a person (“the information holder”) under section 14(1) or (2) (as the case may be), and

(b) the information holder provided information in response to the request which the requester considers must have been known by the information holder to be false in a material way.

(2) The requester may give notice in writing to the information holder of its intention to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6).

(3) The requester may apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) only if it has given notice under subsection (2) to the information holder and either—

(a) the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the information holder received the notice has ended and the information holder has not made a request in writing to the requester during that period that the requester carry out a review of its intention to apply to the First-tier Tribunal, or

(b) the information holder made a request in writing for such a review by the requester within that period and the requester, having carried out the review and considered any written representations made by or on behalf of the information holder, is satisfied that the information holder provided information in response to its request under section 14(1) or (2) that the information holder must have known to be false in a material way.

(4) But a requester may not apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order under subsection (6) after the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the information holder received the request from the requester under section 14(1) or (2).

(5) Where an application is made by a requester under subsection (3) following a request for information made to an information holder under section 14(1) or (2), the First-tier Tribunal may make an order under subsection (6) if it is satisfied that the information holder, in purporting to comply with the request, provided information to the requester that the information holder must have known to be false in a material way.

(6) An order under this subsection is one requiring the information holder to pay the requester an amount not exceeding £1,000.

(7) In giving notice under subsection (2), a local authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Scottish Ministers about the form and content of such notices.

(8) In this section, “requester” has the meaning given by section 16.

18 Scottish Ministers’ request for landlord information from local authorities

(1) The Scottish Ministers may request from a local authority—

(a) the name and address of, and other contact information for, each person who is entered in the authority’s landlord register (“a registered person”),

(b) the name and address of, and other contact information for, any other person who is included in a registered person’s entry in the authority’s landlord register,

(c) the address of each house that is entered in each registered person’s entry in the authority’s landlord register, and

(d) the name, address and letting agent registration number (if any) of a letting agent of a registered person.

(2) The Scottish Ministers may exercise the power under subsection (1) for the purpose of or in connection with—

(a) enabling or assisting the exercise of any of their functions under this Chapter,

(b) assisting a local authority in the exercise of any of its functions under this Chapter.

(3) A local authority must provide the information requested by the Scottish Ministers under subsection (1) by no later than the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the local authority received the request.

(4) In subsection (1)—

• “house” is to be construed in accordance with section 101 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004,

• “landlord register”, in relation to a local authority, means the register prepared and maintained by the local authority for the purpose of Part 8 of that Act,

• “letting agent”, in relation to a registered person, means a person who is specified in the registered person’s entry in the landlord register of a local authority as acting for the registered person in relation to a lease or occupancy arrangement to which a house included in that entry is subject,

• “letting agent registration number”, in relation to a letting agent, means the number allocated to the letting agent under section 36(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014.