SafeDeposits Scotland Blog

Frequently Asked Questions About the First-tier Tribunal

Posted on Wednesday 3rd of April 2019

Since 1st December 2017, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has received and dealt with applications in respect of Private Sector Rented Cases and Private Residential Tenancies. SafeDeposits Scotland closely monitors cases handled by the First-tier Tribunal, particularly those where tenancy deposits are concerned. As an impartial scheme we would direct any parties - tenants, landlords and letting agents - to the Tribunal...Read More

Paying a Deposit in Instalments

Posted on Thursday 11th of April 2019

The SafeDeposits Scotland team has been out and about across Scotland in recent months, both hosting and attending a variety of events aimed at landlords, letting agents and tenants. It is always good to meet face to face the people who use the scheme, and we're pleased to answer any questions that they may have. One query that popped up on a few occasions was whether it is possible for a tenant to pay their tenancy deposit in instalments and if so how...Read More

How to Avoid a Dispute Growing in the Garden

Posted on Thursday 18th of April 2019

Around the corner from our office the daffodils are in full bloom, and up and down the country other signs of summer are starting to pop up - the buzz of lawnmowers has reappeared, supermarkets are promoting garden furniture... So there's no time like the present to revisit one of the areas of certain tenancies that can cause disagreement, and to look at how such disputes can be avoided. We are of course talking about gardening. A garden is a lovely asset...Read More

Deductions Proposal Template - A Helpful New Tool

Posted on Thursday 25th of April 2019

We have recently introduced a brand new tool for landlords and letting agents to use at the end of a tenancy, should they find themselves needing to make a claim on the deposit. We deal with over 3,500 tenancy disputes each year and our Proposal for deductions from the tenancy deposit template has been created to help landlords and agents set out their case for any deductions in a transparent way. The template requires the landlord or agent to properly...Read More

Tenants Complete Research Survey

Posted on Wednesday 8th of May 2019

We're very grateful to over 320 tenants who recently responded to the survey in our latest e-newsletter. Our Tenant Research Survey was created to provide an insight into the tenant population in Scotland. We felt that this research was particularly important as tenants can't simply be characterised as a single group of people - they come from all walks of life, which was reaffirmed by some of the results within the survey. Often the tenant portrayed in the media is a millennial who is...Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Posted on Wednesday 22nd of May 2019

Do you remember those TV adverts from years ago for train services between Edinburgh and Glasgow? They featured someone on each side of the country extoling a virtue of their hometown, with the back and forth between the two building up in speed and volume... "Salt 'n' Vinegar" "Salt 'n' Sauce" "Salt 'n' Vinegar!" "Salt 'n' Sauce!" "SALT 'N' VINEGAR!" "SALT 'N' SAUCE!" ...and so on. Other variations saw Evening Times and Evening News sellers try to out-shout each other,...Read More