FOI/19/02260 · FOI · not held
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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