Scottish Building Safety Levy: indicative rates
Indicative rates for the Scottish Building Safety Levy, including the methodology used to calculate rates and an assessment of expected impacts ahead of the Levy’s introduction in April 2028.
Background
The Scottish Building Safety Levy (SBSL) will be a tax on the completion of new residential units. It is intended to secure from residential property developers a contribution towards the estimated £1.7 to £3.1 billion cost of the Scottish Government’s Cladding Remediation Programme. This is aimed at ensuring these costs do not fall directly on affected homeowners or disproportionately on the general taxpayer.
The Scottish Government carried out a consultation on the SBSL between September and November 2024. The Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Act 2026 (“the Act”) was introduced in June 2025 and passed by the Scottish Parliament on 17 March 2026, before receiving royal assent on 13 May 2026. The SBSL will commence on 1 April 2028 and be administered by Revenue Scotland.
In November 2025, the Scottish Government announced a delay to the introduction of the SBSL from April 2027 to April 2028 to provide taxpayers more time to prepare for its introduction.In setting out indicative rates, the Scottish Government is now giving developers more than 20 months' advance notice of their Levy liabilities, providing certainty and clarity to housebuilders in taking forward future developments.
Alongside this, the Scottish Government has launched a further consultation seeking views on outstanding policy components for the SBSL, including the methodology used to determine floorspace, options for further exemptions and reliefs, and payment flexibilities for certain development types. The outcome of this consultation is not expected to lead to an adjustment of the rates set out in this document.