Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016

Objection to amnesty notice and referral to Land Court

115 Objection by landlord

(1) Compensation under section 34 of the 1991 Act or, as the case may be, under section 45 of the 2003 Act is not payable to the tenant if, before the end of the period of 2 months beginning with the day on which the landlord receives an amnesty notice under section 114, the landlord objects to the relevant improvement or to part of it by giving notice in writing to the tenant.

(2) A notice given under subsection (1) must be dated and must state the landlord’s reasons for objecting to the relevant improvement or, as the case may be, to part of the relevant improvement.

(3) The landlord’s reasons for objecting must be one or more of the following—

(a) that it is not fair and equitable for compensation to be payable for the relevant improvement on the tenant quitting the holding at the termination of the tenancy,

(b) that the landlord carried out the improvement in whole or in part, or

(c) the landlord gave or allowed a benefit to the tenant (under the lease or otherwise) in consideration of the tenant carrying out the improvement, whether or not the landlord agreed such benefit in writing.

116 Referral to Land Court

(1) Where the landlord has given notice of objection under section 115(1), the tenant may, before the end of the period of 2 months beginning with the day on which the tenant received the notice of objection, apply to the Land Court for approval of the relevant improvement for the purposes of section 34 of the 1991 Act or, as the case may be, section 45 of the 2003 Act.

(2) The Land Court may—

(a) approve the carrying out of the relevant improvement—

(i) unconditionally, or

(ii) upon such terms, as to reduction of the compensation which would otherwise be payable or as to other matters, as appears to it to be appropriate, or

(b) withhold its approval.

(3) Before approving a relevant improvement, the Land Court must be satisfied that—

(a) the landlord has benefited or would benefit from the improvement, and

(b) in all the circumstances it is just and equitable for compensation to be payable by the landlord for the improvement on the tenant quitting the holding at the termination of the tenancy.

(4) No compensation is payable to the tenant to the extent that the Land Court determines that—

(a) the landlord carried out the improvement, or

(b) the landlord gave or allowed a benefit to the tenant (under the lease or otherwise) in consideration of the tenant carrying out the improvement, whether or not the landlord agreed such benefit in writing.