If you want to be sure of getting good quality, well managed accommodation, you can look for a landlord or letting agent who is a member of a professional organisation or accreditation scheme.
Accreditation schemes
An accreditation scheme is a voluntary partnership between landlords and the host organisation, with the aim of driving up standards of property management . Landlords have to apply to join, and prove that they meet the standards adopted by the scheme. The organisation that runs the scheme often helps members to advertise their property, for example through student accommodation services or local authority housing offices.
The Scottish Government supports the national voluntary landlord accreditation scheme, Landlord Accreditation Scotland (LAS), which promotes best practice in management standards in the private rented sector. The scheme is open to private landlords and letting agents across Scotland.
A number of local authorities run local schemes that are affiliated to the national scheme. LAS is currently working in partnership with the following local authorities to promote landlord accreditation:
- Aberdeen City
- Aberdeenshire
- Argyll & Bute
- East Ayrshire
- East Dunbartonshire
- East Lothian
- Glasgow City
- North Lanarkshire
- Orkney Islands
- Scottish Borders
If your local authority is not listed here, you might wish to contact them to see whether a separate local scheme is being run.Where an accreditation scheme is up and running, you can check with the organisation that runs it whether a particular landlord is a member.
If you are a student, ask your university or college accommodation service whether they carry out any checks on landlords before letting them advertise their properties.
Landlords organisations
Landlords organisations and associations do not always carry out detailed checks on the standard of service provided by their members, but they do provide information and advice on good practice.
Being a member of an association at least shows that someone has thought seriously about their role as a landlord. The main organisations operating in Scotland are:
Landlords may also choose to join an accreditation scheme in their local area.
Letting agents
Many landlords use a professional letting agent to deal with their property, so they don't have to handle all the detail themselves.
For tenants, renting through an agent usually gives you a range of different properties to look at, as well as the reassurance of a full-time management service, with all the legal requirements in place.
The following organisations make sure that their members are fully qualified and regulated and deposits held by them are protected by a national scheme, so that both tenants and landlords are protected should the business fail: