Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011 Landlord Registration Provisions Commencement Dates
The Remaining Landlord Registration Provisions of the Act will be commenced over the next few weeks:
Landlord Registration Number
Landlord Registration numbers are currently only provided for administrative reasons when landlords are registered. The 2011 Act gives landlord registration numbers a legal basis and outlines that local authorities must provide landlords with their registration number when advising them that their registration has been completed.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Public Access to the Register – Additional Information
Information on registered private landlords and their properties is held on a register maintained by the local authority for the area where each property is located. Public access to the register is restricted to prevent misuse of information. However, to help protect tenants two additional categories of information will be made available to the public. This means that information about the status of an application will become available, where a registration application has been made but not yet determined; and whether a person was refused entry to, or removed from, the register as being not fit and proper to act as a landlord or because the person’s agent was found to be not fit and proper.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Landlord Duty to Include Certain Information in Adverts
To prevent unregistered landlords from advertising their properties, the Act will require that all adverts for properties for let must include the landlord registration number or, in the case of landlords whose application is yet to be determined, the phrase “landlord registration pending”. Reusable ‘To Let’ boards are exempt from this due to costs for landlords. Where there is more than one owner of the property, only one landlord registration number (or the phrase “landlord registration pending” if relevant) need be included in the advertisement. For a registered landlord the sanction for failing to include a registration number is that they may be removed from the register. For an applicant for registration the sanction is that the application may be refused.
Commencement Date 1st June 2013
Penalties for Unregistered Landlords
The court may also disqualify a person operating as an unregistered landlord from being registered as a landlord by any local authority in Scotland, for up to five years. These provisions bring landlord registration in line with HMO licensing. The Act outlines the landlord’s right of appeal and makes provision for revocation of any disqualification order, though no revocation can occur unless there has been a change of circumstances, and even then not within the first year of the order taking effect.
Local authorities must note details of disqualifications on the register.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Power to Obtain Information
The Act gives local authorities new powers to obtain information to enable or assist it to carry out its landlord registration functions. A local authority can serve a notice on various specified persons to provide information on the nature of their interest in a house; specified information about other people with an interest in the house or who act in relation to a lease or occupancy arrangement; and such other information about the house or such a person as can be reasonably requested.
To help local authorities identify unregistered landlords, the Act contains a power for local authorities to require a letting agent to provide information in relation to any house in the area in relation to which the agent acts, including the address of the house and the name and address of the owner.
Any person who is required to provide such information and fails to do so, or knowingly or recklessly provides false or misleading information, is guilty of an offence with a fine on summary conviction not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Private Rented Housing Panel – Information to be Given to Local Authorities
To further help local authorities identify unregistered landlords, the Act will require the Private Rented Housing Panel to pass onto the local authority details about the landlord and property. This must include the landlord registration number if known and details of any agent the panel knows is acting on the landlord’s behalf. This requirement arises where an application is made to the panel by a tenant relating to the repairing standard.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
The Remaining Landlord Registration Provisions of the Act will be commenced over the next few weeks:
Landlord Registration Number
Landlord Registration numbers are currently only provided for administrative reasons when landlords are registered. The 2011 Act gives landlord registration numbers a legal basis and outlines that local authorities must provide landlords with their registration number when advising them that their registration has been completed.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Public Access to the Register – Additional Information
Information on registered private landlords and their properties is held on a register maintained by the local authority for the area where each property is located. Public access to the register is restricted to prevent misuse of information. However, to help protect tenants two additional categories of information will be made available to the public. This means that information about the status of an application will become available, where a registration application has been made but not yet determined; and whether a person was refused entry to, or removed from, the register as being not fit and proper to act as a landlord or because the person’s agent was found to be not fit and proper.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Landlord Duty to Include Certain Information in Adverts
To prevent unregistered landlords from advertising their properties, the Act will require that all adverts for properties for let must include the landlord registration number or, in the case of landlords whose application is yet to be determined, the phrase “landlord registration pending”. Reusable ‘To Let’ boards are exempt from this due to costs for landlords. Where there is more than one owner of the property, only one landlord registration number (or the phrase “landlord registration pending” if relevant) need be included in the advertisement. For a registered landlord the sanction for failing to include a registration number is that they may be removed from the register. For an applicant for registration the sanction is that the application may be refused.
Commencement Date 1st June 2013
Penalties for Unregistered Landlords
The court may also disqualify a person operating as an unregistered landlord from being registered as a landlord by any local authority in Scotland, for up to five years. These provisions bring landlord registration in line with HMO licensing. The Act outlines the landlord’s right of appeal and makes provision for revocation of any disqualification order, though no revocation can occur unless there has been a change of circumstances, and even then not within the first year of the order taking effect.
Local authorities must note details of disqualifications on the register.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Power to Obtain Information
The Act gives local authorities new powers to obtain information to enable or assist it to carry out its landlord registration functions. A local authority can serve a notice on various specified persons to provide information on the nature of their interest in a house; specified information about other people with an interest in the house or who act in relation to a lease or occupancy arrangement; and such other information about the house or such a person as can be reasonably requested.
To help local authorities identify unregistered landlords, the Act contains a power for local authorities to require a letting agent to provide information in relation to any house in the area in relation to which the agent acts, including the address of the house and the name and address of the owner.
Any person who is required to provide such information and fails to do so, or knowingly or recklessly provides false or misleading information, is guilty of an offence with a fine on summary conviction not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013
Private Rented Housing Panel – Information to be Given to Local Authorities
To further help local authorities identify unregistered landlords, the Act will require the Private Rented Housing Panel to pass onto the local authority details about the landlord and property. This must include the landlord registration number if known and details of any agent the panel knows is acting on the landlord’s behalf. This requirement arises where an application is made to the panel by a tenant relating to the repairing standard.
Commencement Date 1st April 2013