Ensuring equal quality of homes.
Plans for a new legal requirement for all homes to meet the same standards, will be included in a major national housing strategy to be published this week.
The new Housing Standard, applying to all tenures, is an important element of Housing to 2040, which will set the path for how Scotland’s homes and communities should look and feel in 2040.
The new standard will create a single set of quality and accessibility standards, no matter whether a home is owned or rented. It will cover all homes, new and existing, with no margins of tolerance for sub-standard accommodation.
This will align standards for energy efficiency and heating and importantly will meet expectations for housing as a human right.
SNP MSP Ruth Maguire said:
“As a basic human right, everyone living in Scotland should have a warm, comfortable and safe place to live.
This new standard could drive improvements to the quality of all homes, so that everyone is living in good quality accommodation, regardless of whether they own it or rent it from a private or social landlord. Our existing homes need to keep pace with new homes to ensure no one is left behind.
It will deliver housing underpinned by health and wellbeing and importantly this standard will be enshrined in law.”
Following consultation, and subject to the outcome of the election, the Scottish Government will publish a draft Standard in 2023 and introduce legislation in 2024-25, for phased introduction between 2025 and 2030, recognising that different types of homes in different places may need more or less time to achieve compliance.
Ruth Maguire MSP 