The Act: Overview Pre-action protocol in respect of evictions relating to rent arrears Section 47: Assured tenancies: pre-action protocol
178.This section puts on a permanent footing, subject to a minor modification, the temporary changes made by paragraph 4 of schedule 1 of the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020. It amends the 1988 Act to allow for the implementation, on a permanent basis, of a pre-action protocol which will apply in relation to any attempt by a landlord to end an assured tenancy (including a short assured tenancy) on a ground relating to rent arrears.
179.The section gives the Scottish Ministers the same regulation-making power (subject to the affirmative procedure) in respect of assured tenancies that they are given in relation to private residential tenancies under section 46.
180.The 1988 Act contains more than one eviction ground relating to rent arrears. Grounds 8 and 12 require there to be arrears on a particular date, whereas ground 11 can apply where the rent has persistently been paid late regardless of whether or not it is in arrears on a particular date. However, ground 8, which required the arrears to be of a specified amount, is now being repealed under section 44 (as any eviction that would otherwise have been sought under it can be sought under ground 12 instead, given that there is now no distinction in terms of Tribunal discretion). While the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 applied the ability to put in place a pre-action protocol only to cases where the arrears met the threshold for ground 8, it is now applied to all of the rent-related grounds remaining in the 1988 Act.