Report to the People
28th August 2006
Show Them the Door
Like
traffic wardens and politicians, private landlords don’t have the best public
image; often portrayed in the media as abhorrent caricatures, such as Leonard
Rossiter’s Rigsby in Rising Damp.
In
their defence, many landlords are responsible and take their obligations to
their tenants and their neighbours seriously.
But there is a selfish minority who are happy to let their properties -
or even whole streets - go to rack and ruin so long as they can rake in the rent
cheques every month.
Irresponsible private letting
can really drag a community down and the Scottish Parliament has passed
legislation which demands that only those judged to be “fit and proper” can
let residential property.
In determining whether
someone is “fit and proper”, councils can take any relevant information into
account. They must, however,
consider any evidence of fraud, dishonesty, violence or drugs and any failure to
take action against antisocial tenants.
All private landlords and
their agents must also register with the local authorities in which they let
property. This register will become
available for public inspection and a private landlord who has neither
registered nor applied to register is now committing an offence.
Councils must be able to
remove disreputable landlords from the market and protect communities from the
problems caused by mismanaged properties and these new laws will help them do
this. For a quick guide to the new
legislation, your rights and what you can expect from private landlords, write
to me or call my office (791820).
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