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Legislation to transform homelessness prevention and improve standards in rented housing has been passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill will place a duty on certain public bodies to prevent people from losing their homes by asking about their housing situation and taking action.

The Bill will also broaden Ministers' powers to implement ‘Awaab’s Law’, which will ensure landlords promptly address issues that are hazardous to tenants’ health, starting with damp and mould.

The legal measure was named after Awaab Ishak who died in 2020 after being exposed to mould in his home in Rochdale in north west England. The law will now be implemented in Scotland’s rented sector from March 2026, subject to Parliament’s agreement.

Other measures in the Bill include giving Ministers the power to implement a system of long-term rent controls, keeping rent affordable for tenants.

Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan said:

"Passing the Housing (Scotland) Bill is a landmark moment for how we prevent homelessness in Scotland. Whilst we already have some of the strongest homelessness rights of any country, we will now go even further to a create a gold-standard homelessness prevention system.

“Passing this groundbreaking legislation, coupled with the Housing Emergency Action Plan published earlier this month, shows just how serious we are about tackling Scotland’s housing crisis.

“Families across Scotland will have the confidence that their rented home will be free from damp and mould as we take forward work to implement ‘Awaab’s Law’. We will now work at pace to lay regulations to implement these protections from March.

“Scotland has already led the way in protecting tenants and providing strong rights when people are homeless and now the Housing Bill will revolutionise homelessness prevention and ensure rents are kept affordable."

Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and communications for Crisis Scotland, said:

“Today’s vote marks a landmark moment in Scotland’s journey towards ending homelessness.

“We already have strong rights in place for people experiencing homelessness, but as we see from our frontline services, we need to do far more to prevent people losing their home in the first place. That means allowing people entering a housing crisis to get help earlier, so they can get support before it is too late.

“At Crisis we have been calling for new protections to stop people being forced from their homes for years. These new changes, contained in the Housing Bill, hold the potential to create a truly world-leading homelessness system, where everyone has a safe, secure place to live."

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