Changes to Tenancy Deposit Regulations in Scotland

The Tenancy Deposit Amendment Regulations (Scotland) 2019 comes into force on 11 November and applies to all approved Tenancy Deposit Schemes in Scotland.

Agent at property door with young couple

The amended rules for Tenancy Deposit Scheme administrators will speed up the repayment of deposits at the end of a tenancy and ensure tenants are aware of the sanctions available where landlords have not complied with the regulations.  

ARLA Propertymark reported in January 2019 that findings from a Scottish Government review into Tenancy Deposit Schemes in Scotland highlighted the previously unforeseen issue of unclaimed deposits. 

The amended Regulations will ensure tenants are provided with the appropriate information in order to reclaim their deposit at the end of a tenancy, raise a disagreement over the deposit return and make a complaint if necessary.

The amended rules add an exception to the situations in which a tenancy deposit must be paid into an approved scheme. From 11 November 2019, where the tenancy has terminated and the deposit is repaid to the tenant prior to the expiry of the period of thirty working days from the beginning of the tenancy, the landlord will no longer be required to pay the deposit into a scheme.

Where a landlord and tenant have agreed that the deposit will be paid in installments, landlords will now be required to provide information on the cumulative amount paid as well as the individual payment amount for each installment paid.

Scheme administrators will be required to provide tenants with the details of the sanctions that can be applied for where the landlord has paid the deposit into the scheme after the expiry of the thirty working days, both when the deposit is lodged with the scheme and when they receive the landlord’s application for repayment once the tenancy has ended.

Where the landlord has failed to lodge the deposit within thirty working days of the tenancy commencing, tenants will have thirty working days from the end of the tenancy to apply for sanctions.

If a landlord indicates that the full deposit is to be repaid to the tenant at the end of the tenancy, the scheme administrator is no longer required to seek authorisation of this amount from the tenant, speeding up the process of the deposit being repaid.

More information

The Scottish Government published the Review of Tenancy Deposit Schemes in Scotland. Mygov.scot contains information on Tenancy deposits for both landlords and tenants.