Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

2025 asp 13

Crown Application

Part 1 – Rent

Chapter 1 – Designation of rent control areas

Rent conditions: assessments and reports

Section 2 - Reports to Scottish Ministers following periodic assessment

18. This section specifies further detail in relation to the periodic reports that must be prepared by a local authority and submitted to the Scottish Ministers under section 1(1) after it has carried out an assessment of rent conditions in relation to relevant tenancies of properties in its area.

19. The report must set out details of the assessment carried out regardless of whether the local authority recommends that all or part (or parts) of its area should become a rent control area. A rent control area is created by being designated as a rent control area by regulations made by the Scottish Ministers under section 9(1) – see the definition of “rent control area” in section 2(5).

20. Where a local authority recommends that an area is designated as a rent control area, it must set out the reasons for making the recommendation (see subsection (1)(b)(ii)) and include in its report a plan of the area identifying its boundary (see subsection (4)). Where it recommends that part of its area should be designated, it may (if it considers it appropriate) specify the part by reference to a street, all or part of an electoral ward, or another appropriate existing boundary.

21. A local authority may only recommend that an area should become a rent control area if it is of the opinion that measures to control the amount of rent increases under PRTs of properties in the area are necessary to protect the social and economic interests of tenants in the area (see subsection (2)). PRTs would include any future PRT that, whilst currently an assured tenancy, might at some point be converted into a PRT using the discretionary power in new paragraph 6 of schedule 5 of the 2016 Act (see Notes below on section 51 of the 2025 Act).