The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 is now in force and gives additional protection to tenants from eviction during the outbreak by increasing the notice period a landlord must give a tenant.

The Government have made it clear that no landlord should evict a tenant because they have suffered financial hardship due to Covid-19 and there is an expectation on landlords to be flexible with tenants facing financial hardship and signpost them to the sources of financial support available.

In recognition of the severity of the situation we now find the country in, the Scottish Government has passed emergency legislation to protect renters in Scotland during the Covid-19 outbreak. The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 protects tenants in Scotland from any eviction action for up to 6 months. This will apply to both the private and social rented housing sectors and will ensure the position is absolutely clear for all landlords and tenants in Scotland.

This new legislation temporarily extends the amount of notice landlords must give when ending a tenancy. In most cases landlords will now need to give tenants 6 months’ notice, unless they are ending the tenancy for particular reasons, including antisocial and criminal behaviour by the tenant, or where the landlord or their family need to move into the property where the notice period is 3 months.

The legislation also temporarily makes all grounds for eviction in the private rented sector discretionary, ensuring that the Tribunal will be able to use discretion and take all factors relating to the impact of Covid-19, on both the landlord and tenant into account before deciding whether to issue an eviction order or not.

The new law applies in cases where a landlord serves notice on their tenant on or after 07 April 2020. Where a landlord has served notice on their tenant before 07 April 2020, the changes in the new law do not apply.

More information on changes to notice periods for private residential tenancies can be found here. Information on notice periods for short assured and assured tenancies can be found here.