Ending joint tenancies: equality impact assessment

Executive summary

Scottish Ministers have committed to further reform of the rented sectors as part of delivering their vision and commitments for housing as set out in Housing to 2040^[1] and consulted on as part of our New Deal for Tenants: Draft Rented Sector Strategy^[2]. The reforms were also developed as part of the Cooperation Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group, which was ended on 25 April 2024. The 2023-24 Programme for Government^[3] commits to a Housing Bill that will help to deliver the legislative changes required.

Part 4 of the Bill as introduced includes provisions to provide a mechanism by which one joint tenant can bring the tenancy to end the tenancy for all where there is no mutual agreement to bring the tenancy to an end. This would be possible only after the tenant who is seeking to end the tenancy has provided the other joint tenants with appropriate notice.

This document sets out the results of our equality impact assessment on this provision. It is one of a number of equality impact assessments carried out on the policy changes included in the Bill.

The analysis is presented below in the Key Findings section. The findings are based on stakeholder engagement and feedback, desk-based research and analysis of the responses to the New Deal for Tenants: Draft Rented Sector Strategy, the Landlord and Tenant Engagement Questionnaire and subsequent engagement discussion groups.

The EQIA is an ongoing process and therefore will continually be amended as new evidence comes to light. We will continue to engage with our stakeholders and will regularly review the EQIA record and results following the data review and subsequent analyses.

Our overall assessment is that reform to how a joint tenancy can be ended in relation to the three aspects of the public sector equality duty is neutral. We have identified this policy is likely to have an overall beneficial impact, allowing tenants to end a tenancy where other joint tenants are refusing to bring the tenancy to an end as a result of relationship breakdowns. This would be particularly so for women who have to leave a tenancy where they experience domestic abuse.