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 passed by the UK parliament.
The Scottish government has no power to introduce new taxes and levies without authorisation from Westminster. The UK government will now legislate to devolve the necessary powers to the Scottish parliament to introduce a Scottish building safety levy. An Order in Council will now be subject to scrutiny in both the UK and Scottish parliaments.
Scotland’s deputy first minister and finance secretary Shona Robison 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. I welcome the UK Government’s collaborative approach on this issue.
“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.”
Details of how the Scottish building safety levy will operate will be developed through consultation and liaison with the UK government and house-building sector.
