Private Landlord Registration
All private owners and landlords renting residential property in Scotland have to apply for registration in the register of landlords.
Anyone planning to let out homes privately must be registered before beginning letting their property. To find out more about how to register please review at Landlord Registration Scotland (opens new window). Your registration number must be displayed at all times when advertising and on your tenancy agreement.
This publication is for all registered landlords and agents throughout West Lothian.
Our first Landlord Registration Forum since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was held on the 26th August 2021 virtually on Microsoft Teams. The event was very successful with around 40 landlords and letting agents attending, the speakers at the forum included;
- Jim Bauld - First Tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber
- Zak Abercrombie - West Lothian Council
- Siobhan Hilley - West Lothian Council
- Andy Hilditch - West Lothian Council
The presentation from Jim Bauld, can be found here [267KB]
The presentation from West Lothian Council can be found here [505KB]
All private owners and landlords renting residential property in Scotland are required to register with their local Council, every 3 years, so we can make sure they keep good standards of practice. Information about registered landlords is available on the Scottish Government's Landlord Registration Scotland (opens new window) so members of the public can find out if their landlord is registered. The aim of landlord registration is to make sure that all private landlords in Scotland are fit and proper people to be letting residential property.
The requirement to register helps councils to remove disreputable landlords from the market and protect tenants and the wider community from the impact of antisocial behaviour and mismanaged properties. It is a legal requirement for all landlords to keep their applications and details up to date. Private Landlords are reminded to keep the application, details and records up to date when there is a change of circumstances, e.g. change of home address, agents, sell or buy a property, etc.
The easiest way to register is online at Landlord Registration Scotland (opens new window). This is a Scottish Government website and contains useful information in relation to landlord registration.
From 31 January 2018 all letting agents operating in Scotland must comply with the Letting Agent Code of Practice. The Scottish Letting Agent Register also opens for applications from letting agents. All letting agents in Scotland must have applied to register with Scottish Ministers before 1 October 2018.
The Scottish Government has written to all letting agents on its database to highlight these changes.
Agents can make an application on Scottish Letting Agent Register (opens new window) website.
Information on letting agent registration, including on how to apply, is available at Scottish Letting Agent Registration (opens new window).
In March 2020 we officially launched the NHS Homes scheme, under the UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA). For more information, please see the Landlord Registration STAA NHS Workers [40KB] .
To be registered, owners and their agents must be fit and proper to let residential property. Local authorities must take account of any evidence that the person has:
- Committed any offence involving fraud, dishonesty, violence, drugs, discrimination, firearms or sexual offences
- Practiced unlawful discrimination in connection to any business
- Contravened any provision of the law relating to housing, or landlord and tenant law, and the person's actions, or failure to act, in relation to any antisocial behaviour affecting a house they let or manage, and must take account of the fact and nature of any agency arrangement.
- Acted, or failed to act, in relation to any antisocial behaviour affecting a house they let or manage.
- We must take into account of the fact and nature of any agency arrangement
The Scottish Landlord Register is a publicly available database. By visiting Landlord Registration Scotland (opens new window), you can;
- see if a landlord is registered,
- find out who manages a property,
- check which local authority a property is registered in.
It is a criminal offence to let property without being properly registered with the local authority. A fine not exceeding £50,000 can be imposed for operating as an unregistered landlord.
Please note Landlord Registration may request a criminal record certificate when we suspect that information has been withheld or is inaccurate. You are also required by law to make Landlord Registration aware if anything changes which may affect your registration throughout the period of your registration.
If you are aware of a property that is being privately rented that does not appear on the register please notify us by completing the Unregistered Landlord Enquiry Form.
Fees from April 2024
The Private Landlord Registration Fee Legislation (opens new window) came into force on 11 June 2019. Section 3 of the regulations makes provision for fees to adjusted from 1 April each year , using a formula that reflects the value of the Consumer Prices Index in the preceding calendar year. Where 1 April falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the fees are varied from 9 am on the Monday following 1 April.
The fees will be varied as shown in the table below, based on CPI data for 2023. In accordance with the regulations, the value of the fees has been rounded to the nearest pound.
| Financial Year | Principal | Two or more applications with different local authorities (50% of Principle Fee) | Property | Late Application |
| 2023-24 | £75 | £37.50 | £17 | £149 |
| 2024-25 | £80 | £40 | £18 | £160 |
The new fee amounts take effect from 9 am on Monday 1 April 2024.
We conduct annual surveys with Private Landlords in West Lothian to gather information on their views of the councils' Landlord Registration service. These surveys have been conducted in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Our next survey will commence in Summer 2023.
2022 Landlord Survey Results
In 2022 we conducted our annual survey of Private Landlords in West Lothian. We received a total of 206 responses. The survey was carried out in April 2022.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
The service provides a website which contains information, advice and links to websites about the private rented sector. Have you accessed our website? | There were 204 responses to this question;
|
| Did the website provide you with the information you required? | There were 135 responses to this question;
|
| Overall, how satisfied are you with the service you receive from the Landlord Registration Team in West Lothian? |
|
2021 Landlord Survey Results
In 2021 we conducted our annual survey of Private Landlords in West Lothian. We received a total of 292 responses. The survey was carried out in June 2021.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
The service provides a website with information, advice, and links to all landlord relevant information, does it meet your needs? | There were 273 responses to this question;
|
| Overall, how satisfied are you with the Landlord Registration Team in West Lothian? | There were 292 responses to this question;
|
| If you answered dissatisfied/very dissatisfied can you explain why you feel that way? | There were 28 responses to this question;
|
| Do you have any suggestions on how to improve engagement between landlords and the Council? | There were 293 responses to this question;
|
2020 Landlord Survey Results
In 2020 we conducted our annual survey of Private Landlords in West Lothian. We received a total of 448 responses. The survey was carried out in December 2020.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
The service provides a website with information, advice, and links to all landlord relevant information, does it meet your needs? | There were 448 responses to this question;
|
| Our staff continued to work to provide landlord assistance during the pandemic. In your view, could we have done anything differently to provide a better service? | There were 180 responses received for this question, of this 50 provided comments. The most common comment which was received indicated that landlords felt additional services online and accessibility to training could have been improved. |
| Our Technical Officer is available for enquires and visits to assist with Repairing Standard issues, if you have used this service how satisfied are you with it? | There were 435 responses to this question;
|
| Overall, how satisfied are you with the Landlord Registration Team in West Lothian? |
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Contact us
You can report a concern about a landlord of a private tenancy by completing the Unregistered Landlord Enquiry Form.
