Monday, 1 June 2020
The Scottish Government has issued guidance for landlords in order to help support tenants and landlords who may find themselves in financial difficulty due to Coronavirus (Covid-19) .
In order to protect tenants from eviction the Scottish Government are taking action to produce a temporary change to legislation to amend grounds for eviction under the Private Residential Tenancy from 3 months to 6 months.
Please encourage your tenants to speak to you as soon as they are having difficulties paying their rent. There is a host of financial support that may be available to them including Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, Discretionary Housing Payment and the Scottish Welfare Fund.
To help landlords, banks have agreed a three-month mortgage holiday, and you are urged to apply for this if you need to. However, Ministers have also written to UK Finance and the UK Government urging them to move to providing six-month mortgage holidays for all mortgages including Buy to Let in order to help tenants and landlords across the UK.
Please read the full update from the Scottish Government below:
Please make sure you are aware of your obligations as a landlord before you register. You may be asked to show certain certificates as evidence. Download the prescribed information to find out more about your landlord obligations:
You can apply online via the Landlord Registration website. You must pay the fees as part of the online application process.
Please do not use the address of the property you are intending to rent out as your contact address. This will result in any correspondence we send to you being returned marked addressee has gone away.
Landlord registration fees are:
Discounts are available for:
From 9am on Wednesday 1 April 2020 the Landlord Registration fees will increase to:
To find out more about landlord registration, visit the mygov.scot website.
Private Landlord Registration
Communities, Housing and Infrastructure
Business Hub 1
Lower Ground Floor West
Marischal College
Broad Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1AB
03000 200 292
landlordregistration@aberdeencity.gov.uk
Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
Once your registration is approved you will receive a confirmation email with your landlord registration number. Your registration is valid for three years from the approval date. Your landlord registration number should be displayed on all rental advertisements. If you use a Letting Agent, please supply them with your landlord registration number.
In accordance with the Legislation for the Regulation of Private Landlords under the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 all landlords have a legal obligation to maintain their registration details and keep them current at all times. You must also notify us (in writing or by email) of any change in circumstance (e.g. change of address, adding or deleting properties, no longer practicing as a landlord). Failure to do so is an offence under the Act.
It is our legal obligation to maintain the register and to provide advice and assistance relevant to the registration scheme. It is not our responsibility to maintain your registration details.
Landlords and creditors have a duty to inform the relevant Local Authority when they raise proceedings for possession of a property or serve certain notices relating to a mortgage. This is to give local authorities early notice of households who may be at risk of homelessness due to eviction.
Landlords are required by law to serve a two month written notice for possession of a property.
Regulations prescribing the form and manner have been laid in Parliament.
Please contact the Housing Advice team.
Energy Performance Certificates are required for all new tenancies in Scotland.
An EPC will provide information on the energy efficiency of a property and must be carried out by a qualified EPC surveyor.
The Scottish Government has published an EPC information sheet for private landlords giving current available information on EPCs for the private rented market. It can be accessed via the following link:
It is mandatory to fit a condensing model when replacing or fitting a new gas or oil-fired boiler. For more information on Building Regulations go to the Scottish Government website
From April 1st 2009 Gas Safe Register replaced CORGI Gas registration as the official gas safety body therefore by law, only Gas Safe Registered Engineers should carry out work on gas appliances or installations in your property. If someone other than a Gas Safe Registered Engineer does the gas work in your property, you could be risking peoples lives.
To find a Gas Safe Registered Engineer visit www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or telephone 0800 408 5500. National Grid (Formerly Transco) Tel: 0800 111 999
A landlord is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all electrical installations and appliances supplied as part of the let are safe for use and do not threaten the health or safety of people in and around the premises or become a source of fire.
All furnishings and furniture supplied as part of the let must comply with relevant parts of the Furniture & Furnishings (fire) (Safety) Regulations
A landlord has a duty to repair and maintain the property at the start of the tenancy, and at all times during the tenancy.
The landlord must on or before the start of the tenancy provide the tenant with written information about the effect of the Repairing Standard in relation to the tenancy and how to approach the Private Rented Housing Panel (PRHP).
'Cuckooing' is a term used to describe someone having their home taken over by an Organised Crime Group for the purposes of using the premises, usually to deal or store drugs. Private rentals are attractive to Organised Crime Groups, and Police Scotland has produced a factsheet for private landlords to help identify where cuckooing is happening. Find out more about cuckooing.
We are working with Landlord Accreditation Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to ensure that everyone working in the private rented sector has the opportunity to keep up to date with the ever-changing legislation relevant to landlords and agents.
To benefit from the most up to date information and to hear about how to include best practice within the day to day management of rental properties, come along to one of the training and information events. Download the leaflet below for more information:
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