SafeDeposits Scotland Blog

Did you see the trailer for Mary Poppins Returns, which was released a couple of weeks ago? Pretty magical stuff. And no sooner had we started whistling Chim Chim Cher-ee, we read a startling statistic in relation to chimney sweeping that would have Dick Van Dyke exclaiming "Cor, Blimey!" 89% of respondents to a recent survey of UK tenants conducted by AXA Insurance said it was the tenant's responsibility to keep any chimneys swept. However - contrary to that fairly overwhelming response...Read More

Letting agents will be aware that - as part of their Code of Practice - it is compulsory to have client money protection (CMP) in place. With the Code having been in force since January this year, it's important that agents have CMP to ensure that they are regulated. CMP is not a service we offer, however as part of our commitment to promoting best practice we've put together a few points on this important requirement. What is it? In a nutshell, CMP is a special type of insurance that...Read More

SafeDeposits Scotland is the only not-for-profit deposit scheme meaning that we can use any financial surpluses we make to make a positive difference to Scotland's private rented sector (PRS). To do that, we set up the SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust, a grant-giving charity that promotes and facilitates education, training and best practice within the sector by funding projects that provide tangible benefits to landlords, letting agents and tenants alike. The Trust is currently...Read More

The importance of contact details When a landlord registers a deposit, we ask for contact details for the tenant, specifically a phone number (preferably a mobile number) and email address. We can't stress enough how important contact details are: we need to be able to contact the tenant after they move out of the property to ask them to complete the repayment steps. If we can't contact the tenant, the repayment will be much slower for the landlord and tenant. As we need to contact the...Read More

The importance of contact details When a landlord registers a deposit, we ask for contact details for the tenant, specifically a phone number (preferably a mobile number) and email address. We can't stress enough how important contact details are: we need to be able to contact the tenant after they move out of the property to ask them to complete the repayment steps. If we can't contact the tenant, the repayment will be much slower for the landlord and tenant. As we need to contact the...Read More

When you move in to a new home, make sure there's a detailed inventory which you agree with. If something is already broken or dirty when you move in but it isn't written on the inventory, you could end up having to pay for it when you move out. What is an inventory? An inventory is a list of everything in the property when you move in (for example, furniture, décor, fixtures and fitting, etc.) and the condition they're in (for example, 'brand new, never...Read More