News archives
Letting agent regulation introduced
1 October 2018 marked the deadline for letting agents in Scotland to apply to the new national register. All letting agents should now have met the training requirement and completed their registration application. It will take the government some time to process all...
New universal credit case manager helpline
The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has introduced a new telephone system that will allow a universal credit (UC) claimant’s representative to speak to their case manager, providing the claimant has given their express consent for this. A tenant can appoint...
First letting agent enforcement orders issued
Since 31 January 2018 all letting agents in Scotland have been required to adhere to a statutory code of practice which can be read at https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00530797.pdf and some agents have already been penalised by the First-tier Tribunal for failing to...
Does your gas engineer know about the changes?
A few members have reported to SAL that some gas engineers are not aware of the flexibility introduced earlier this year. Following campaigning work by SAL and our England/Wales partners the RLA, we were pleased in Spring to have announced a good result. From 6 April...
In the media – 5 October
Landlords in the media and articles of interest. Mentions: The Scotsman: John Blackwood: Don’t hesitate to report a rogue letting agent – 25 September Property Wire: Deadline for lettings agent registration in Scotland is just a few days away – 26 September Glasgow...
Letting agent ongoing training requirement
All letting agents operating in Scotland should now have applied to the Scottish letting agent register. Agents will need to apply to renew their letting agent registration every three years. The three year cycle starts from the point their first registration...
Landlords urge strong enforcement of new letting agent rules
Scotland’s largest landlord membership organisation has urged landlords, tenants and other letting agents to quickly report any non-compliance with new regulations governing letting agents in the Private Rented Sector (PRS). The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL)...
Universal Credit roll out
The roll out of universal credit (UC) for new benefit claimants continues with more Scottish job centres transitioning to UC over the next few months. The latest roll out schedule can be found here. From 2019 to 2023 existing claimants will move from legacy benefits...
Check detector expiry dates
Landlords and letting agents are reminded to ensure they check the expiry dates of smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors in their rental properties and replace detectors on or before the expiry date. We recently heard from a member whose expired carbon monoxide...
Update on minimum EPC standard
The Scottish Government has recently consulted on improving the energy efficiency of all of Scotland’s dwellings. The consultation focused on proposals to aim for all properties to have an EPC rating of C by 2040, with social housing already on track to meet that...