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Current building regulations require that fire spread on external walls is inhibited. The guidance which supports the regulations calls for non-combustible or limited combustibility cladding and insulation materials on the exterior walls of high rise buildings over 11m and high-risk buildings. Combustible cladding and insulation can only be used in such situations when the fire performance of the whole of the cladding system (including thermal insulation and fire barriers) has passed a large scale fire test. The Scottish Government requires to be notified when such a test has been used to demonstrate compliance with the regulations.

The current review of building regulations has considered a ban of the highest risk cladding materials including the role of the large scale fire test, BS 8414. It is expected that amended regulations will be laid in the Scottish Parliament shortly.

The fourth and final meeting of the Building Standards (Fire Safety) Review Panel 2020-22 took place on 24 January 2022. Draft minutes of the meeting were circulated to members of the panel for comment on 03 March 2022. The final minutes will then be published by the end of March 2022.

We have introduced a range of targeted measures to support people experiencing homelessness who are affected by the rising costs of living. We have committed £52.5 million since 2018-19 to support local authorities to implement rapid rehousing approaches, including Housing First. We are allocating £79 million in 2022-23 for Discretionary Housing Payments to support those struggling to meet housing costs.

As part of a wider package of funding to tackle the cost of living crisis, in 2022-23 we have committed a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which has been helping households with energy costs since late 2020.

No-one should go hungry or have to rely on charitable food provision. That is why we published a consultation on a plan to end the need for food banks. We will continue to work with partners to strengthen cash-first responses to hardship to ensure people have sufficient income to meet their needs and reduce the need for food banks. In line with this approach, we provided local authorities with £25 million of flexible funding from our Winter Support Fund to tackle financial insecurity over the winter.

For those experiencing the most acute forms of homelessness, we have provided over £690,000 of funding to support the introduction and operation of rapid rehousing welcome centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We have also made over £51,500 of flexible emergency funding available to third sector homelessness organisations for personalised budgets.

In this Parliament we will review the role of taxation in supporting our Housing to 2040 vision for both new and existing homes and our communities.

Housing to 2040 commits the Scottish Government to developing options for tax reform. As part of that, we will consider how changes to existing local and devolved taxes could help deliver the Housing to 2040 Vision, within the context of our overall approach to taxation.

The £10 million Tenant Grant Fund, launched last September, is being administered by local authorities who are best placed to target and deliver the funding to vulnerable tenants who are facing potential eviction and homelessness within their local area.

We are aware that local authorities are proactively raising awareness of the Tenant Grant Fund, with many establishing links with local housing advisory services such as Citizens Advice Bureaus and Law Centres. Some local authorities are also raising awareness of the fund directly with private landlords, encouraging them to get in touch if they have a tenant who has fallen into rent arrears as a direct result of the pandemic and requires support.

The Scottish Government also continues to promote the Tenant Grant Fund across social media platforms and we are working with key stakeholders to identify any further opportunities to raise awareness of the fund, particularly amongst private rented tenants.

No assessment has been made of whether and how the conveyancing system may affect house prices.

Conveyancing is the legal process that transfers ownership of a property from one person to another including the completion of the missives.

The Scottish Government do not have a remit in relation to the training and skills of the housing sector workforce, social landlords have a duty to train their staff appropriately and this includes the upcoming delivery of any Housing to 2040 outcomes, and private landlords must meet the legal standards required, but specific professional training is not essential.

There are currently no plans to undertake such a review. The Scottish Government receives a low level of correspondence about how the system of house buying and selling operates in Scotland.

The Housing to 2040 strategy and the New Deal for Tenants Draft Strategy consultation both encourage professionalism in the housing industry. The consultation particularly seeks views on how to drive up standards in the private rented sector, including around training.

Private sector landlords in Scotland are subject to the same regulatory requirements, irrespective of the number of properties they let.

Most private landlords are required to apply for registration with their local authority under Part 8 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 . The applicant must provide information to help local authorities assess whether they are a fit and proper person to let houses.

The fit and proper person test is intended to provide a level of assurance that the owner of a let property is a suitable person to let privately rented property. It is a standard that all private landlords are required to uphold throughout the time that they operate as a private landlord.

In addition, where the property in question is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), the landlord must apply for a licence. The HMO owner or their agent is subject to the fit and proper person test, and the property is subject to inspection by the local authority and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Local authorities are responsible for administering Landlord Registration and Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing.

From 1 December 2017, new tenancy agreements for most privately rented properties would be Private Residential Tenancies and tenants will also therefore be afforded the rights and protections flowing from that regulatory framework (as set out in Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016).

Our New Deal for Tenant's consultation, which runs until the 15 April, makes clear that all tenants should live in properties where quality and standards are high, and people have clear rights. It also seeks views on our vision for the future regulation of the rental sector - setting out that regulation should seek tenure neutral outcomes for tenants in all sectors, empowers tenants through routes to redress failures and support good standards across the rented sector.