What do the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 mean for landlords?
The regulations require that a landlord must pay deposits into an approved scheme and ensure that the money is held by an approved scheme for the duration of the tenancy. Evidence of registration with the relevant local authority must be provided when the deposit is paid over. (Regulations 3 and 44 apply)
The tenant must also be provided with specific information about the tenancy, the deposit and the scheme that will be protecting it. (Regulations 42 and 43 apply).
Which landlords will have to comply with the regulations?
The types of tenancy to which these regulations will apply are the same as those covered by the landlord registration provisions in the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 apply. Therefore, if a landlord is required to register with a local authority, and takes a deposit from a tenant, they must also comply with tenancy deposit regulations.
Landlords of the following types of property are not required to register and so will not have to comply with tenancy deposit regulations:
- Lets to family members
- Life rents
- Houses for holiday use
- Properties used by religious orders and organisations
- Accommodation with care
- Houses subject to control orders
- Agricultural and crofting tenancies
- Resident landlords
- Transitory ownership (executors, heritable creditors and insolvency practitioners)