Letting Agent regulation and enforcement data: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of complaints received about letting agent discrimination.

2. The number of enforcement actions taken against letting agents for discrimination.

3. The number of inspections or compliance checks carried out on letting agents.

4. The number of inspections or compliance checks where non-compliance was found.

5. The number of inspections or compliance checks resulting in formal enforcement.

Broken down by year, specifically for 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Response

1. The Scottish Government can receive complaints about letting agent discrimination but has not received any such complaints. Therefore, this is a notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

2. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of enforcement actions taken against letting agents for discrimination. The Scottish Government does not take enforcement action in relation to discrimination matters, which fall to other bodies. Therefore, this is a notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

3a. The Scottish Government has not carried out inspections of letting agents. To date, it has not been necessary to undertake inspection activity, as regulatory oversight is delivered through application processes, ongoing monitoring and case‑led work. Therefore, this is a notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

3b. Compliance checks are undertaken for each letting agent as part of application and re-registration processes, and through ongoing case-led monitoring in line with legislative requirements and the Letting Agent Code of Practice. However, these activities are not recorded as a discrete, countable number of “compliance checks”, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information in the format requested. Information on how the Scottish Government monitors compliance with letting agent legislation is publicly available in our compliance and enforcement framework, which can be accessed here:

Regulation of Letting Agents Monitoring and Compliance Framework

This information is reasonably accessible and is therefore exempt under section 25(1) of FOISA.

4. Any person who is, or intends to become, a letting agent should apply to the Scottish Ministers for entry in the register. Scottish Ministers must enter a person on the register if they are satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person and meets the requirement of the Act. The fit and proper person assessment takes account of all the requirements in the Act, including criminal convictions, contravention of housing law, the law relating to debt and equalities legislation. For applications to reregister, Scottish Ministers can also take into consideration a person’s previous compliance with the Code of Practice or any Letting Agent Enforcement Orders issued by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) when determining an application.

As a result, the volume of information held by the Scottish Government on the topic of your request is significant. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

5. The Scottish Government can take formal enforcement action in relation to letting agent registration, including the revocation of registration where appropriate.

However, no inspections have been carried out and compliance checks undertaken through application, re-registration and case-led work have not resulted in formal enforcement action of this type. The number of inspections or compliance checks resulting in formal enforcement by the Scottish Government is therefore zero.

The First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) may also take enforcement action, including the issuing of Letting Agent Enforcement Orders. Failure to comply with such orders may be reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.