Building Safety Levy Expert Advisory Group minutes: March 2025

Attendees and apologies

An exact attendance list is not available for this meeting. An updated list of Group members can be found on the Building Safety Levy Expert Advisory Group webpage.

Items and actions

Welcome and agreement of previous meeting minutes

The group was welcomed to the meeting and apologies were noted.

Actions from the previous meeting were reviewed – it was noted that Scottish Government (SG) Cladding Directorate will follow up on a remaining action to update on ongoing work on the Cladding Remediation Programme pilot cleanse, and that another open action (to follow up on a request for information about the progress and cost of remediation) will be closed via correspondence.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed, and it was confirmed that the Group are content for anonymised minutes of the meetings to be published on the gov.scot website.

Update on SG Cladding Remediation Programme

SG officials updated the Group on recent developments with the Cladding Remediation Programme, including:

• signposting a statement to be made in Parliament on 25 March 2025 on Grenfell and the next phase of action on cladding
• detail on the new ‘Single Open Call’ process that will allow property owners (including local authorities and Registered Social Landlords) to apply for government funding to have their buildings assessed through the ‘Single Building Assessment’ process
• noting that the pilot review is ongoing
• signposting that work to determine figures and costs for the Programme is ongoing – SG officials noted that when an announcement is made on this it will be shared with the Group

Discussion on calculation and exemptions

SG officials spoke to slides on the proposed calculation method and proposed exemptions for the Scottish Building Safety Levy (SBSL) and invited views from members.

It was raised that the point of tax liability being on acceptance of a completion certificate could create cash flow issues for Build to Rent (BTR) and Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) developments, given that for these development models, many units are completed at the same time. SG officials noted a need to consider these issues and how this may work in practice.

There was a discussion around the verification of floorspace of a property for the purposes of calculating the SBSL, including where this information may be recorded and available, how reliable this information is, and whether there would be costs associated with verification.

It was raised that a calculation method based on the floorspace of a property may have a negative impact on the size and quality of properties.

The importance of certainty in understanding tax liability early was noted, and that this is a challenge with a market value calculation approach.

It was noted that there is a lack of certainty for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) housebuilders regarding their exemption from the SBSL, and that a general uncertainty for stakeholders around the detail of the tax design has made it challenging for them to respond to the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) questionnaire. SG officials stated their intention to follow up with Homes for Scotland, particularly around the issue of an exemption for SMEs.

There was a discussion on the proposal for a ‘levy-free allowance’ which would aim to protect the smallest developers building the lowest numbers of residential developments per annum from the costs of the SBSL – this included considerations of where the threshold would and should be set, whether there would be distortionary impacts, how this would apply to bedspaces for PBSA developments, and how this would apply to businesses in cases of mergers and acquisitions. SG officials stated their intention to discuss this proposal further with SMEs, and to follow up with the Scottish Property Federation on the point around PBSA developments and the levy-free allowance for bedspaces.

It was raised that there is a need for regulatory alignment between the levies in Scotland and England, noting the differences in the markets and tax bases.