Private landlord registration

All private owners and landlords renting residential property in Scotland have to apply for registration in the Scottish Landlord Register.

Anyone planning to let out homes privately must be registered with Landlord Registration Scotland before beginning letting their property. Your registration number must be displayed at all times when advertising and on your tenancy agreement.

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.

You can find out if your landlord is registered on the Scottish Government's website Landlord Registration Scotland. 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 private landlords to keep their applications and details up to date, including change of circumstances, for example a change of home address, adding or removing an agent, buying or selling a property.

How to apply

• register online at Landlord Registration Scotland or 
• to request a paper application form email landlordregistrationteam@southlanarkshire.gov.uk  

Owners must declare any agent used to rent or manage their property, or to arrange repairs or to collect the rent. The maximum fine for operating as an unregistered landlord is £50,000. An agent may be a:

• letting agent 
• solicitor 
• friend
• relative 

If you are carrying out letting agency work, you may need to register separately, the Scottish Letting Agent Register provides further information.

What you need to apply

• your address/es for the last five years
• date of birth
• names you are known by
• addresses, including postcodes, of all the properties you let
• email address
• the names and addresses of any agents you use
• information on any convictions or court/tribunal judgements

If the property is jointly owned:

• each owner must register
• one person should be nominated as the lead owner to pay the full fee and the other owners will receive 100% discount

Landlords registering or renewing

Landlords registering or renewing must confirm they meet legal obligations. Our Landlord registration obligations page provides more information or you can visit the Renting your property out – your responsibilities website.

Application process

If approved, you or your agent's contact details will appear in the public Scottish Landlord Register. Landlords must update any contact details if they change.

Can anyone object?

If your application is refused, you won't be allowed to register initially but we may be able to advise you what improvements could be made to your application to allow you to register in the future. If your registration is refused, your rights of appeal will be explained.

How much does it cost?

• £82 to register as a landlord 
• £19 for each property 
• Discounted rate of £41 if you already have a registration with another council 
• Additional discounts apply if the property is a registered house in multiple occupation (HMO)

Renewing your registration

When registering:

• Provide a valid email address for renewal reminders and keep it up to date
• Four reminders are sent by email (90 days, 30 days, 14 days prior to and on expiry day)
• Emails come from donotreply@ros.gov.uk and might go to your spam or junk folder

If no valid email address is provided, reminders will be sent by post.

Late renewal

A late application fee of £164 will be charged when a landlord fails to register or fails to renew their registration on time. In the case of renewals, the late application fee is applied automatically and is non-refundable. There is no right of appeal under current legislation.

Joint owners late application fees -  in the case of joint owners, the lead owner registers and pays the relevant registration fee but any joint owners are still required to register or renew their registration separately, with no fees to pay. However, if the joint registrations by owner(s) fail to register or renew their registration on time they will incur the late application fee. Be aware that the expiry dates for joint owners are not always the same.

All owners (those named on the title deeds) must register and renew their application independently on the Landlord Registration system.