Building Safety Levy
We plan to introduce a Scottish Building Safety Levy to provide funding for Scotland’s Cladding Remediation Programme, to tackle unsafe cladding on buildings.
This would be a new national devolved tax paid for by developers of new-build residential properties, equivalent to the UK Government’s Building Safety Levy for England.
Plans for the Levy
The UK Government has agreed to transfer powers to the Scottish Parliament to introduce the Levy. The legislative process for this is expected to be complete by December 2024.
We will then introduce a Bill into the Scottish Parliament in 2025. The Bill will set out the legislative basis for how the Levy will operate.
How the Levy will work
We are proposing that the Levy will be a self-assessed tax. People and organisations responsible for paying it will need to submit a tax return to Revenue Scotland.
The Levy would apply to:
-
new homes built by developers for onward sale
-
new purpose-built accommodation, like student flats and build-to-rent properties
-
redevelopment of existing buildings to provide accommodation
We are proposing that there will be some exemptions to the Levy, for example for affordable housing.
Developing the Levy
We consulted on our proposals for the Building Safety Levy between September and November 2024. This has now closed and we expect to publish an analysis/response in early 2025.
What the Levy will be spent on
We estimate that the Scottish Building Safety Levy will raise £30 million a year.
This will be used to fix unsafe cladding on buildings. Once this work is complete, decisions on the future of the Levy will be for future governments and parliaments to make.
What we have already done
We consulted jointly with the UK Government in January 2024 on devolving powers to create a Scottish Building Safety Levy. Read our joint response at: Devolving powers for a Scottish Building Safety Levy: consultation outcome on the gov.uk website.
We have also set up a Scottish Building Safety Levy Expert Advisory Group to provide expert advice, challenge, and scrutiny.
Further information
Read more about our work to tackle unsafe building cladding.