Framework for monitoring and enforcing Letting Agent Regulations

The Scottish Government has published a Monitoring Compliance and Enforcement Framework, in the latest phase of the Letting Agent Regulations introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014.

As of 31 January 2018, those carrying out letting agency work have been required to comply with a code of practice.  Also as of that date, Registers of Scotland have been accepting applications to join the Register and all applications must be submitted by 1 October 2018.

The framework is intended to clearly outline the steps that Scottish Ministers will take to monitor the compliance of registered letting agents, those required to apply to join the register and the sanctions which may be imposed.

While the Act gives Scottish Ministers the power to carry out inspections of premises and records and to obtain information in order to ascertain and evaluate compliance, responsibility for monitoring compliance will be shared across a number of groups and stakeholders including landlords and tenants, local authorities, Trading Standards the Police and other professional and industry membership bodies.

There are a number of ways in which the requirements of the Act can be enforced.

• Landlords, Tenants and Scottish Ministers can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland for a determination on whether a letting agent has complied with the code of practice. Where a failure to comply is identified, a letting agent enforcement order will be issued. This sets out the remedial steps required and failure to comply with an enforcement order is a criminal offence.
• Where a letting agent is failing to comply, their registration can be refused or revoked. It is an offence to carry out letting agency work without registration and to use a letting agent registration number where there is no registration – doing so can result in a fine of up to £50,000, imprisonment up to six months, or both.
• Where powers of inspection or to obtain information are put to use, it is a criminal offence to knowingly provide false information, or to fail to supply information required in an application for registration. It is also a criminal offence to obstruct a person in carrying out an inspection or to fail to comply, with the requirements of an inspection.
• Registered letting agents are required to inform those managing the Register of Letting Agents of changes in circumstances in relation to any of the information provided in the registration process and it is a criminal offence not to do so.

Where compliance cannot be achieved through alternative means and there is evidence that a criminal offence may have been committed, cases can be referred by police to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, to consider criminal proceedings.

Any action taken by Scottish Ministers, in conjunction with other relevant authorities, will depend on a number of factors, including the individual circumstances of the case.

The full Regulation of Letting Agents Monitoring Compliance and Enforcement Framework can be found on the Scottish Government website.