The Scottish Government aims to raise £30m per year from its building safety levy, it has said in a new document.
The authority has opened a consultation for its version of the tax on clients that is designed to raise funds for remediation of buildings clad in dangerous material.
The levy is modelled on the one set to be introduced in England as part of the Building Safety Act 2022, which aims to raise £3bn per year.
Scotland’s finance secretary Shona Robison said: “We are keen to hear from people across Scotland about our proposals, which would raise funds from developers to help safeguard people living in buildings with unsafe cladding.”
The Scottish Government estimates there are around 1,000 high-rise and 5,000 medium-rise buildings within the scope of the programme in Scotland, though work is still being carried out to confirm the number.
Construction News reported earlier this month that just one building in Scotland had seen its cladding remediated since a £97.1m grant was awarded by the UK government in March 2020. Four-fifths of the grant remained unspent.
But Scotland’s building safety levy will not be introduced before April 2026, the government said.
The English version is set to apply to all buildings requiring sign-off from building control but will exempt developments containing fewer than 10 homes constructed by SME developers. It is also set to exempt affordable housing, hotels, hospitals and care homes.
Scotland’s consultation said its levy would exempt the same buildings, but protection for SMEs would be based on the number of homes built each year by a developer or their annual turnover, rather than the size of the plot being built.
In England, it is planned that the charge will be levied on a value per square metre basis, and on different rates under different local authorities.
The Scottish government said its initial preference is for its version to be calculated as a proportion of the market value of the property and of the sale price, where possible.
Projects on brownfield sites may also be charged a reduced rate in Scotland, like under the English system.
Robison added: “I know that developers share our determination to keep people safe and have continued to make significant progress. This legislation will build on that momentum, ensuring developers make a fair contribution to address building safety defects in Scotland, just as the UK Government is asking them to do in England.”
The consultation runs until 18 November, and can be viewed here.
