It has been mandatory for Scottish private landlords to register with their local authority since 2004, however, the range of required information landlords must provide is limited. Therefore, following a consultation, the government is planning on introducing new changes to the registration process, with a view to improving standards in the Scottish private rented sector.
Declaration about compliance
On September 16th (subject to the Parliamentary process), The Private Landlord Registration (Information) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 come into force, meaning that landlords who apply for a new landlord registration, or renew the current one, will be required to declare they comply with specific legal duties. In particular, they will have to confirm their property meets:
- The Tolerable Standard
- The Repairing Standard
- The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations and
- If there is a private water supply, the Water Intended for Human Consumption (Private Supplies) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.
Safety and marketing information
Private landlords will also be required to confirm that tenants have been provided with a copy of the EPC, Gas Safe record and the Electrical Inspection Condition Report and, if the property had been advertised, that the ad carried the landlord registration number and EPC rating.
Additional information
In addition to this, landlords will have to declare that there is:
- buildings insurance on the property as per the requirements of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 (if the property is within a tenement)
- HMO license (if it is an HMO property)
- Legionella risk assessment
- Lodgement of deposits with an approved scheme (if the property falls under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011).
It is yet to be seen how local authorities will scrutinise and validate the information provided by landlords. It may be that landlords will be asked to submit evidence of compliance as part of a sample check of applications.
