Various questions surrounding private landlords: FOI release

Information requested

What power does the Scottish Government have to bring unregistered landlords into line?
Would the Scottish Government consider changing the Registration Scheme to a national one so that a landlord need only register once?
How many private landlords there are in Scotland?
How many private landlords are registered with their local authority?

Response

What power does the Scottish Government have to bring unregistered landlords into line?
I can confirm that local authorities are responsible for enforcement of landlord registration. The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 makes provision for a range of enforcement measures which can be applied to encourage unregistered landlords to comply. These include the use of late application fees and rent penalty notices. Landlords may be prosecuted if they continue to let property without being registered. The maximum fine for operating as an unregistered landlord is £50,000. Landlords can also be disqualified from being able to let property for a period of up to 5 years.

Would the Scottish Government consider changing the Registration Scheme to a national one so that a landlord need only register once?
I can confirm that there are no plans to change the current legislation to create a national registration scheme.

How many private landlords there are in Scotland?
We do not hold information on the number of landlords there are in Scotland. Information about the number of landlords currently on the register is provided below in response to your final question.

How many private landlords are registered with their local authority?
The attached table (Annex A) provides the current number of total no of active registrations, broken down by local authority as at September 2019.

Annex A

Local Authority	No of Active Registrations
Aberdeen City	20446
Aberdeenshire	9297
Angus	4470
Argyll and Bute	3872
City of Edinburgh	42579
Clackmannanshire	1684
Dumfries and Galloway	7197
Dundee City	10349
East Ayrshire	5000
East Dunbartonshire	3041
East Lothian	3952
East Renfrewshire	2376
Eilean Siar	641
Falkirk	5482
Fife	16316
Glasgow City	40447
Highland	8721
Inverclyde	2786
Midlothian	2716
Moray	3249
North Ayrshire	4574
North Lanarkshire	8943
Orkney Islands	946
Perth and Kinross	6582
Renfrewshire	7887
Scottish Borders	5362
Shetland Islands	533
South Ayrshire	4915
South Lanarkshire	13035
Stirling	4791
West Dunbartonshire	2400
West Lothian	5108
Total	259697

 

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