Tenancy deposit scheme - Scotland

2012 saw the introduction of Scotland’s Tenancy Deposit Scheme – run by independent third parties and protects tenants’ deposits until they’re due to be repaid.

England and Wales have their own tenancy deposit regulations – more info here.

Types of Tenancy Deposit Scheme

There are three tenancy deposit schemes in Scotland:

• The Letting Protection Service Scotland
• SafeDeposits Scotland
• my|deposits Scotland

Once your tenant has paid their deposit, you have 30 working days to register it with one of these schemes.

Within 30 days from the start of the tenancy you must also supply your tenant with the following information:

• The exact amount of their deposit
• The date you received the money and the date you paid it into a scheme
• The address of the property that the deposit relates to
• A statement confirming you're registered (or have applied to be registered) as a landlord with the local council
• The name and contact details of the scheme the deposit was paid into
• The conditions by which any or all of the deposit may be kept at the end of the tenancy

Returning the Deposit

At the end of the tenancy, you have to get in touch with the deposit scheme provider to ask for the deposit to be returned. You should tell the provider how much of the deposit is to be returned to the tenant and how much (if any) should be kept to cover costs e.g. for cleaning or repairs.

The scheme provider will then ask the tenant if they agree with the amount to be returned – they have 30 days to respond to this. If they don’t respond, their share of the deposit will stay in the scheme and your share will be returned to you.

For more information visit scotland.gov.uk