If you are involved in letting agency works in Scotland, you are required by law to comply with the Letting Agent Code of Practice and join the Register of Letting Agents

The Register is operated by the Scottish Government with the aim of ensuring letting agents are suitable to provide such services and meet a set of minimum training requirements.  If you are operating as a letting agent and do not meet the requirements of the Code from 31 January 2018, tenants and landlord can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) to resolve a potential dispute.

Letting agents can apply to the Scottish Letting Agent Register as well as signing up for further updates from the Scottish Government on the regulation process.  The registration fees for letting agents depends on the number of offices they operate.

It is a criminal offence to carry out letting work if you are not on the Register. If convicted, you could face a fine of up to £50,000 or up to 6 months in prison or both.

How will I know if I need to register?

It is the responsibility of every individual and/or company involved in letting out property in Scotland to decide if the services they carry out require them to register as letting agents. Letting agency work generally means you either:

• carry out work for a private landlord who wants to let their property out to a tenant

• manage a property (including collecting rent, inspecting the property and arranging for repairs and maintenance) which either is currently or is planned to be rented out to a tenant

There is a legal definition of letting agency work you should read when deciding whether you need to register and comply with the Code which is available at section 61 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014. If you are not sure if this applies to you, you should consider the following:

• is the work you do for a property owner a business arrangement?

• do you charge a fee or take another type of payment for the work you do? (Just because you don't take a fee for the work you do, does not automatically mean you are not a letting agent)

• are you regularly doing work related to letting and managing properties? (If you are regularly doing work for a private landlord, this may be considered a business arrangement)

If you answer yes to the above questions, you probably need to join the register. If you are a registered landlord and manage your own properties, you do not need to register as an agent. If however you are still not sure, you are advised to seek your own legal advice.

I know I need to register - what do I need to do?

Before applying for registration, you need to make sure that:-

• anyone in your business requiring to meet certain qualifications has undertaken them

• your business meets the requirements of the letting agents code of practice

• all your staff understand and follow the Code of Practice

• you hold client money in at least one separate and dedicated client bank account (see section 8, paragraph 118 - 122 of the code) 

• you hold client money protection (see section 8, paragraph 126 of the code) 

• you hold professional indemnity insurance (see section 8, paragraph 130 of the code)   

As part of the registration process you will be required to provide proof your business is complying with the Code and that all training requirements have been met. The mygov.scot web site provides full details of the registration process, differing scenarios and how to register.

More information

Shelter Scotland provide information on Letting Agents and the new Code of Practice.