SafeDeposits Scotland Blog

July 2012 saw the launch of tenancy deposit protection in Scotland and one of the first cases to reach the higher courts in Scotland has now been decided by the Sherriff Principal in the Sheriffdom of Lothian and Border. This was an appeal in the case of Samdup Tenzin (tenant) against Stuart Russell and Laura Clark (landlords) where the tenant was originally awarded a penalty of three times the deposit for the failure of the landlords to protect the deposit. The case related to a...Read More

It's all go at the SafeDeposits Scotland Glasgow office this week preparing for The Agency Business at Hampden Park on Thursday. The Agency Business is a conference dedicated to Scotland's letting agent industry, hosted by the letting agent arm, the Council of Letting Agents, of our partner the Scottish Association of Landlords. With the speaker programme just announced, it's set to be a great event, with 200 delegates from the private rented sector across Scotland attending. I was...Read More

The adjudication digest takes a recent decision by a SafeDeposits adjudicator and sets out the reasons behind it. We hope that you will find these digests informative in understanding how we reach our adjudication decisions. This blog post is for guidance only – it is not intended to guarantee when an award will be made. Each dispute is different and the actual award made will be based on our interpretation of the specific evidence presented to us. Assessing a loss In last...Read More

Found the perfect student accommodation for you and your friends? You've probably been asked to pay a deposit in case of damage, rent arrears, etc. Your landlord or letting agent must pay your money into a tenancy deposit scheme for safekeeping. This is a legal requirement in Scotland. You should receive confirmation of protection from the landlord or letting agent and the scheme. Check your tenancy agreement to find out exactly why your landlord may want to deduct...Read More

In this edition of our 'Five Common… Mistakes' blog series, we're talking about common mistakes landlords, letting agents and tenants make when submitting evidence about a pet living in the property: 1. Missing pet clause If a landlord or letting agent doesn't allow pets in their property, this should be specified in the tenancy agreement. However, if pets are allowed, this should be reflected within the tenancy agreement with a 'pet clause'. The Dogs...Read More

As the end of term approaches and a summer of travelling or work awaits, it's easy for students to forget about reclaiming deposits from rented accommodation, but our research has shown that students at some universities are more forgetful than others. Currently, 188 tenancy deposits remain unclaimed by students from Scottish colleges and universities - that's almost £62,000! We carried out the research by identifying all tenants who have a university email account...Read More