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The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 is an emergency law which protects renters in Scotland during coronavirus.
The temporary law applies to all eviction notices issued on or after 7 April 2020. The Scottish Parliament has extended the law until 31 March 2022.
Before a landlord can start legal proceedings to evict, they must give the tenant notice. In most cases, the temporary law means landlords must give you at least 6 months' notice to end a tenancy.
For some cases it is 28 days. Those cases must use one of these reasons:
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you have a relevant criminal conviction
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you have engaged in relevant antisocial behaviour
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someone that you chose to spend time with in the rented property has a relevant criminal conviction or has engaged in relevant antisocial behaviour
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you are no longer living at the rented property
 Pre-action requirements you must when repossessing for rent arrears
Landlords should engage positively with tenants who are having difficulties paying rent to work together to manage arrears as far as reasonably possible. The private rented sector (PRS) tenant resource can help your tenants by signposting them to a range of financial support and advice.
New measures to support landlords to work with tenants who are struggling to pay their rent came into force on 30 September 2020 through The Rent Arrears Pre-Action Requirements (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.
To help landlords understand what steps to take to support tenants in rent arrears to sustain the tenancy (which can be used regardless when the rent arrears occurred), the pre-action guidance is a useful resource and toolkit, which includes access to template letters.
 Scottish Govt landlords short-term emergency loan scheme
The loan scheme opened for applications on 5 May 2020. The interest-free loan is available to landlords who have five or fewer rental properties and will fund lost rental income from a single property. It is designed to take the pressure off landlords, in the short-term, if their tenants are having difficulty making rent payments. Landlords should still engage with their tenants as detailed above.
 For more about the loan, including the application form, please visit;
Send any queries to the Scottish Government:
These two funds offer interest free loans and are still open for applications:
For general information please visit:
 The Scottish Government has now published the finalised Heat in Buildings Strategy which outlines the steps they will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Scotland’s buildings and to remove poor energy performance as a driver of fuel poverty. Chapter 8 of this strategy lays out the regulatory framework for zero emissions heating and energy efficiency.
This strategy confirms that the Scottish Government are removing previously trailed work to establish regulations in the Private Rented Sector to reach a standard of EPC D by 2025. The strategy document states that 20% of private rented housing has a poor EPC rating (of E, F or G) compared to just 6% of social housing and 17% of owner-occupied.
Affordable heating
To tackle the low energy performance in the private rented sector and help to make the heating bills of those living in those homes more affordable, the Scottish Government is committed to the introduction of regulations to ensure properties in the private rented sector reach an EPC D by 2025 and have trailed this standard for the past 3 years.
However, they recognise that the private rented sector has been significantly affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with emergency legislation needed to prevent evictions, support tenants and landlords and protect the broader sector.
As a result, and to reflect the need to reduce pressure on the sector, the Scottish Government are removing this step and now working with the sector to introduce regulations in 2025. These will require all private rented sector properties to reach a minimum standard equivalent to EPC C, where technically feasible and cost-effective, at change of tenancy, with a backstop of 2028 for all remaining existing properties, in line with the direction provided by the CCC.
The future
Together with their proposals for regulating the owner occupied sector also to be introduced in 2025, this will ensure that from 2025 onwards all private housing must achieve minimum standards equivalent to EPC C at respective trigger points, where technically feasible and cost-effective to do so - with backstops of 2028 (for the private rented sector) and by 2033 (for owner occupiers)
Home Energy Scotland may be able to help landlords and tenants to carry out energy efficiency work.
For landlords there is the Private Rented Sector Landlord loan. This aims to support private landlords with the upfront costs associated with improving the energy efficiency of their rental properties.
Making your rental property more energy efficient can help to lower energy bills and make properties more attractive to new tenants, leading to lower turnover and reducing potential problems such as damp.
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Funding for tenants depends on their circumstances. If they meet the relevant criteria then they may be eligible for the Warmer Home Scotland scheme which is a Scottish Government grant designed to improve the energy efficiency of homes, however it should be noted that the heating system remains the responsibility of the landlord (unless a life rent agreement is in place). Find out more about the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme.
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