Contracts that cannot be Part VII

It has not been possible to create Part VII contracts since the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 came into force on 2 January 1988.

Where the proportion of the rent going towards board (the provision of food) is substantial, the occupier will not be entitled to Part VII protection. [1]

A number of landlords could not grant Part VII contracts. They are: [2]

• local authorities

• development corporations

• Scottish Homes

• Housing Corporations

• registered housing associations

• housing co-operatives

• housing trusts

• Scottish Water.

A contract under which the landlord is the Crown or a government depart cannot be a Part VII contract [3] (unless the property is managed by the Crown Estate Commissioners). [4]

Where the contract only gives the occupier the right to occupy the dwelling for a holiday it cannot be a Part VII contract.

Certain valuable properties were removed from Part VII application. [5] The rules about this are very technical and specialist advice must be taken. In brief, if a property had its rateable value first registered on the valuation roll before 1 April 1978 then it is likely to have a high rateable value if the value is £200 or more; if it was registered or on/after 1 April 1978 then the relevant figure is £600.