Private landlords given accreditation carrot

Voluntary scheme aims to raise standards, as national registration figures improve

News, 30 April 2008

The Scottish Government has launched a new accreditation scheme aimed at improving standards in the privately rented housing sector.

The voluntary National Landlord Accreditation Scheme will go beyond the current minimum requirements for landlord registration. It is aimed at encouraging landlords to manage their properties to certain standards, and to attend training courses.

Tenants looking for somewhere to rent will be able to see which landlords are accredited with higher standards.

Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell said the introduction of the scheme would benefit landlords and tenants in the private rented sector.

The Government will provide £321,671.50 in grant funding to Landlord Accreditation Scotland (which is owned by the Scottish Association of Landlords and the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association) to contribute towards the startup costs of the accreditation scheme.

The scheme, expected to start in June, will be free for landlords to join, although letting agents will need to pay an annual fee.

Increase in approvals

Mr Maxwell's announcement came as new figures show a big increase in the number of landlords approved under the Landlord Registration Scheme, the compulsory scheme introduced under the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004. After a difficult first year beset by technical problems, approval rates of applications have increased from 15% to 75% and the total number of applications processed and approved has jumped from 13,500 to 86,000.

Mr Maxwell said: "I know that local authorities have put considerable effort into improving the delivery of the scheme over the past year and we can see that this is now paying off.

"There is still work to be done and I want to focus our efforts on enforcing legislation and removing the worst landlords who continue to give the sector a bad reputation. The substantial increase in the number of registration applications does indicate that enforcement of the scheme is improving."