You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Scottish government secures power to introduce building safety levy
The Scottish government has secured the power to introduce a building safety levy from the UK government.
A tax on developers to raise funds to help fix building safety issues will now be considered in the Scottish parliament using the devolved powers.
Tax-raising powers have to be approved by Westminster before the Scottish government can introduce them.
Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said he would seek the power to introduce a building safety levy in September 2023.
A joint UK Treasury and Scottish government consultation on the proposals closed in February. The consultation sought views on the potential for the new tax to create or incentivise economic distortions and arbitrage within the UK.
READ MORE
Shona Robison, Scottish deputy first minister and finance secretary, said that the consultation “surfaced no evidence to prevent the transfer of powers from proceeding”.
As such, she said, the UK government has “confirmed that it will proceed to legislate for the transfer of powers”. An Order in Council will now be subject to scrutiny in both the UK and Scottish parliaments.
The proposed Scottish building safety levy would apply to the construction of new residential buildings, mirroring measures being introduced in England through the Building Safety Act.
Funds raised through the levy would support the Scottish government’s cladding remediation programme.
Details of how the Scottish levy will operate will be developed through consultation and liaison with the UK government and housebuilding sector.
In England, the levy will apply to new residential buildings, with revenues – expected to be £3bn over 10 years – used to fund remediation of unsafe buildings. A UK-wide levy was ruled out owing to differences in England and Scotland’s housing markets and building control systems.
The Scottish government proposes to bring in the levy on a national basis, as opposed to the English system, which will see revenue collected by local authorities. Revenue Scotland would act as the tax collection body.
Ms Robison welcomed the UK government’s “collaborative approach” on the issue.
She said: “We are determined to safeguard people living in buildings with unsafe cladding. I know that developers share this determination and have made significant progress to date.
“However, it is clear more needs to be done and these powers will ensure that developers make a fair contribution to address building safety defects in Scotland, just as the UK government is asking them to do in England.
“It is important that we also continue working side by side with developers. To that end, and in line with our New Deal for Business and Framework for Tax, we will now liaise with the sector to ensure this levy best contributes to our mission of keeping people safe.”
Towards the end of last year, the Scottish government published its Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill. Inside Housing unpicked the key parts of the legislation here.
