Our digital application for Scotland’s Register of Landlords has now been live for a year!
This was the first Register built in collaboration with Scottish Government (SG) as part of the New Registers project. It has been a challenge capturing all 32 Local Authorities (LA) specific requirements yet hugely rewarding building a shared understanding and encouraging discussions amongst Local Authorities and Scottish Government.
Collaboration
In the first part of the year we worked with Scottish Government and Local Authorities to understand and build the requirements, very much seeing them as customers. As the year has progressed we have evolved the relationship with Scottish Government who are now an integral part of the RoS team. Following on from this we have seen a stronger relationship with the Local Authority community and the last Local Authority Networking day was run jointly by SG and RoS. The event was a huge success and allowed us to engage with all 32 Local Authorities to understand requirements for the live system and the desires for the future enhancement of the Landlord Register.
The event worked very well, allowing developers from RoS to hear directly from the principal system users at the local authorities, who bring with them a passion and high regard for their landlord registration responsibilities, and more direct engagement with the wider LA group. This will certainly benefit the on-going development and user needs. Looking at and listening to the customer perspective beyond the requirements of the Scottish Government will greatly enhance the work scheduled for 2018.
Scott Boyd, Scottish Government – February 2018
As we work towards transitioning from development to business as usual we have seen 21,774 new registrations and received 23,361 applications to date. In terms of daily transactions the Landlord Register is now the second largest Register, currently receiving 263 applications per day which are processed by Local Authorities. This has resulted in 62,330 payments being received and this number is increasing daily.
Throughout the year we have seen continuous improvement ensuring that value is delivered to all users. This has allowed us to gain valuable feedback ensuring that we have and continue to develop functionality for the Local Authorities. The new register is central to the effective delivery of landlord registration by local authorities, enabling them to contribute to the Scottish Government’s vision that all people in Scotland live in high quality, sustainable homes that they can afford and that meet their needs. Ministers have made it clear that they want to see improved standards for the 700,000 people whose homes are in the private rented sector.
Scottish Government Vision
I want to see a sector that is characterised by more good quality homes, being managed more professionally, where tenants feel more secure. Where there are poor standards, local authorities should be taking tough, targeted enforcement to ensure every landlord is fit to let homes to private tenants. The landlord registration system is a key element of the enforcement regime.
Kevin Stewart, Minister for Local Government and Housing – September 2017
What’s next?
RoS will continue to work with stakeholders including Scottish Government and Local Authorities to deliver key features. These features will deliver value to the users and support the overarching Scottish Government vision for the Scottish Private Rented Sector.
You can get all the latest updates on the Landlord Register, and all the other registers in our care, through our blog. Subscribe to receive email updates when we publish a new post!
Other ways to stay in touch
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