Councils have been given £10 million to provide grants to tenants who have fallen behind on their rent as a result of the pandemic and are at risk of eviction.

The grants will help tenants who are struggling financially as a direct result of the pandemic, allowing them to reduce or pay off their rent arrears. They will be available to tenants in both the private and social rented sectors.

This is part of a package of measures available to local authorities to prevent homelessness, alongside Discretionary Housing Payments and advice on maximising income. The grants also come on top of the Scottish Government’s £10 million Tenant Hardship Loan Fund.

Background

On 23 June 2021 the Deputy First Minister announced the Scottish Government’s intention to launch a £10 million grant fund later in the year to support private and social rented tenants who have incurred rent arrears as a direct result of the pandemic.

Through this fund, the Scottish Government will provide a one-off allocation of funds to each local authority in Scotland, based on a distribution agreement with CoSLA. The grant funding will be available until the end of March 2022.

There is no application process for a tenant or landlord to use for the grant funding. Instead local authorities will use their discretion to determine whether a grant payment is appropriate in individual circumstances.