Landlord registration
All private landlords letting residential property in Scotland must register in the register of landlords.
The registration scheme is to ensure that all private landlords in Scotland are `fit and proper` to be letting residential property. This will protect tenants and their neighbours from the impact of antisocial behaviour and mismanaged property.
If you are a landlord and you fail to register before you let or advertise for let residential property, or before you have submitted a valid application for registration, you are committing an offence. This is a legal requirement of the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004.
Good landlords have nothing to fear from registration. Registration will help local authorities to remove disreputable landlords from the market. This will remove the unfair competition of landlords who provide poor housing or inadequate management.
Fees
The Private Landlord Registration (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 requires registering landlords to pay the following fees from 03 April 2023:
- Principal Fee: £75.00 (£37.50 in multi-local authority registrations)
- Property Fee: £17.00 per property
- Late Application Fee: £149.00
Discounts are available for:
- Landlords who own properties in more than one local authority area
- Joint owners
- Landlords who have a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) licence
- Scottish charities
Prescribed Information
The Private Landlord Registration (Information) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 came into force on the 16th September. These regulations require landlords to answer a maximum of 12 new questions as part of the new application and renewal process. The questions relate to the following obligations:
- the Tolerable and Repairing Standards,
- Gas safety,
- Electrical safety,
- Electrical appliance test,
- Fire, smoke and heat detection,
- Carbon monoxide detection,
- Private water supply (where applicable),
- Energy performance,
- Legionella risk assessment,
- Rental property insurance and Common repairs, and
- Tenancy deposits.
All obligations/standards which are listed above must be adhered to by all landlords irrespective of whether they are undertaking the prescribed information questions.
The introduction of prescribed information at the registration stage has introduced no new duties for landlords. This change should have a minimal impact on those who already meet the existing standards required of them.
Do the new prescribed information questions apply to all applications and updates?
No - The new prescribed information questions only apply to applications received by a local authority on or after the 16th September 2019.
Due to the current limitations of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, prescribed information can only be asked at the point that an application is made. This includes new applications and those that are renewed at the end of the 3 year registration period. If a landlord has an existing registration with one local authority but then applies to a new local authority after the 16th September 2019, the new prescribed information questions will be presented as part of the new application process.
Landlords cannot be asked to answer the new prescribed information questions when they do an update, for example, if they add a property to an existing registration. If a landlord makes an update to a registration where the original application was covered by the new prescribed information questions, they will be presented with a summary of the original prescribed information answers provided, and the opportunity to amend any details that may have changed.
For further information, to register online and to pay fees please visit the landlord registration web site by following the link on this page.
Exemptions
There are some situations where you don't have to register with a council to rent out a property. These include:
- holiday lets
- houses managed by religious orders
- houses with a resident landlord
- houses with agricultural and crofting tenancies
- letting to family members
- houses providing care services governed by Care Inspectorate regulation
For further information, to register online and to pay fees please visit the landlord registration web site by following the link on this page.
HMO licence
You need a house in multiple occupancy (HMO) licence if both of the following apply:
- you want to rent your property out to 3 or more tenants
- none of the tenants are related or part of the same family
If you want to use your home in this way, there are extra criteria you'll need to meet before the council will agree to register you.
- if you are 'fit and proper' (able) to hold an HMO licence
- if the property is managed properly
- if the property meets their required standards
For further information on HMOs please follow the links on this page.