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The Scottish Government have released a draft code of practice for letting agents which will mean a huge shake up in the industry before it comes into force in 2018. The Letting Code of Practice (Scotland) Regulations 2016 has been structured in eight sections to mirror the lettings process and sets out the standards expected of letting agents operating in Scotland in how they manage their business and provide their services. It covers key areas such as standards of practice, engaging landlords, lettings, management, maintenance, ending tenancies, communications, complaints, deposits and insurance. Under the code Scottish ministers will establish and maintain a register of letting agents. The regulations will also allow them to remove a letting agent from the register if they are no longer ‘fit and proper’. The Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) welcomed the introduction of a statutory code of practice for letting agents and said that it will help to further professionalism in the industry and drive up standards. ‘We contributed to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the code last year and we are pleased that they have taken on board a number of our recommendations over procedure and wording,’ said ARLA managing director David Cox. ‘It is also very pleasing that the code has a requirement for agents to have professional indemnity insurance and client money protection. These are two requirements of ARLA membership and mandatory CMP is something we are campaigning for in England to provide greater protection for landlords and tenants if things go wrong,’ he explained. But ARLA believes that there should be more detail about what agents should do if disputes occur around tenancy deposits. This is because an agent may be required to co-operate with any investigation by an independent body if a dispute is raised between either the landlord or tenants and this is not always clear in the relevant scheme’s rules for disputes. ‘On the issue of training and qualification ARLA has long campaigned for greater regulation for letting agents and believe that mandatory qualifications will promote professionalism and basic standards within lettings that will benefit businesses and consumers. We look forward to seeing more detail from the Scottish Government in this area,’ added Cox. Kaira Massie, solicitor in the Law Society of Scotland’s professional practice team, said that there has been very little scrutiny of letting agents until now and having a new, statutory code of conduct will improve the situation for both landlords and tenants. ‘Solicitors in Scotland are already subject to stringent rules of admission and detailed practice rules covering professional ethics and conduct and many other aspects of practice. While solicitors will still be subject to the new letting agency scheme, there will be less duplication than was in the original proposals,’’ she pointed out. We’re pleased that the Scottish Government has considered many of the points we raised. The regulations now take into account that solicitors are required to have indemnity to… Taylor Scott International
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