Short Scottish Secure Tenancy for homeowners: guidance for social landlords

4. Purpose of the short SST for homeowners

4.1 The purpose of the short SST for homeowners is to give landlords the flexibility to give a homeowner with short-term housing needs a temporary tenancy rather than a full SST. This is to allow homeowners to make arrangements in respect of the heritable property they own that will allow, within a foreseeable timescale, the person’s housing needs to be met.

4.2 Heritable property will include land, as well as anything built on land, and can be property owned in Scotland, the rest of the UK or abroad.

4.3 This could cover a wide range of circumstances such as allowing the homeowner to:

• access their own home once the period for which it has been rented out has come to an end;
• sell their property and secure alternative accommodation that meets their needs;
• make the necessary arrangements for building on, extending or installing adaptations to the property; or
• carry out repairs needed to make the property habitable.

4.4 In deciding whether to allocate a property using a short SST for homeowners landlords should consider all the circumstances of the individual case and aim to ensure the most effective use of the social housing available.