AN overwhelming majority of Scottish people believe councils should do more to enforce laws that protect the safety of tenants in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), according to a new poll.
Thousands of complaints from tenants suffering at the hands of rogue landlords are being lodged every year, with campaigners warning of a massive increase in problems over the last two years.
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) received more than 6,000 complaints last year, with evidence of multiple cases of landlords failing to meet their legal responsibilities, refusing to do basic repairs and bullying or intimidating their tenants.
CAS says this represents a rise of 23 per cent of such complaints over the previous two years, and 24 cases every working day.
Shelter Scotland has also said that although the private rented sector accounts for only 14 per cent of all households in Scotland, 42 per cent of calls to its helpline were complaints about landlords.
The results chime with a campaign by Scottish landlords who believe law enforcement by councils is crucial if rogue players are to be driven out of the market.
According to the new online poll commissioned by the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL), 69 per cent of Scottish people believe councils should do more to enforce existing laws governing the PRS, such as ensuring the landlord register is maintained in line with legislation, electrical and gas safety checks are completed, and deposits are properly registered with a Scottish Government-approved tenancy deposit scheme.
The PRS has been subject to a succession of new laws over the past decade to improve the standard of rented properties, most of them with the full support of landlords, but SAL believes the stream of new rules has not been matched with an effective programme of enforcement.
“This means that responsible landlords, which are the overwhelming majority, who fully comply with all laws and regulations and maintain properties to a high standard, could be driven out of the market by rogue or criminal players,” said John Blackwood, chief executive of SAL.
“The lack of proper enforcement of existing laws and regulations is creating a two-tier system – a first tier of the overwhelming majority of landlords who act responsibly and a second tier of a small number of criminals who rent out unsafe properties, often to the most vulnerable people in society.”
He added: “We know council budgets are under pressure but we believe that simply by better communication and link-up between different departments within local authorities, along with increased awareness, enforcement would be more effective.”
“SAL is keen to work with partners and key stakeholders to improve education of landlords and tenants about exactly what their rights and responsibilities are, and we will work with the authorities to ensure criminal landlords cannot rent out properties.”
CAS housing spokesman Patrick Hogan said the organisation’s figures provided a “shocking insight into the worst corners of the private rented sector”. “We are calling on local authorities and the Scottish Government to re-double their efforts to monitor the private rented sector and crack down on those who are giving it a bad name,” he said.
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