Tenancy of Shops (Scotland) Act 1949: Report published

The Scottish Law Commission has published its Report on the Tenancy of Shops (Scotland) Act 1949 along with a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, Executive Summary and News Release. The Report recommends the repeal of the Act.

The publication of the Report marks the completion of our project on the 1949 Act. We are grateful to those who have helped us with our work, including respondents to our Discussion Paper and the members of our Advisory Groups. The feedback received was of great assistance in reaching our recommendation.

David Bartos, the SLC lead Commissioner for the project said:

“The Tenancy of Shops Act is an outdated piece of regulation that doesn’t work for the small businesses that it was intended for. By repealing it all tenant businesses should be covered by the same modern rules regulating the expiry of a lease which the Commission recommended in 2022. These rules are now in a Bill being considered by the Scottish Parliament at this very moment.”