Landlord register and tenancy deposit protection: FOI release

Information requested

1. The total number of private rented properties on the Scottish Landlord Register on 31 March in each of the past 10 years.
2. The total number of deposits protected by each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme on 31 March 2022.
3. The total value of deposits protected by each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme on 31 March 2022.
4. The number of deposits a) submitted for protection and b) released from protection under each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme for each of the past six financial years.
5. The number of disputes adjudicated by each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme in the year to 31 March 2022.

Response

The answer to your questions are as follows:

1. The total number of private rented properties on the Scottish Landlord Register on 31 March in each of the past 10 years.
   
   Total Number of Private Rented Properties on the Landlord Register in March* of each year 2012-2022

DATE	TOTAL NUMBER OF PRIVATE RENTED PROPERTIES
March 2022	338,768
March 2021	339,604
March 2020	341,505
March 2019	436,990
December 2018	434,317
January 2017	361,884
March 2016	356,792
March 2015	343,713
March 2014	324,702
March 2013	291,190
March 2012	270,210

*Data for total number of private rented properties has been provided where data is available between 2017-2018

These figures are taken from the Landlord Registration System, which is an administrative system used primarily to manage the registration of landlords and rental properties, and has not been designed to produce robust statistical figures on the sector. The IT platform was migrated 2018/19 and therefore the available figures presented should therefore be considered in the context of data quality issues; a risk of duplicated data and double counting of rental properties in certain instances for joint owners, as well as data issues stemming from any potential lags in the provision of information by landlords on changes to circumstances to existing registrations.
 

2. The total number of deposits protected by each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme on 31 March 2022.

	Letting Protection Service Scotland	my|deposits Scotland	SafeDeposits Scotland	Total
Number of deposits held in designated accounts at end March 2022	29,759	61,708	156,739	248,129

 

3. The total value of deposits protected by each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme on 31 March 2022.

	Letting Protection Service Scotland	my|deposits Scotland	SafeDeposits Scotland	Total
Value of deposits held in designated accounts at end March 2022	£27,264,616	£29,474,484	£122,690,088	£179,350,220

 

4. The number of deposits a) submitted for protection and b) released from protection under each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme for each of the past six financial years.

The number of deposits submitted for protection	Letting Protection Service Scotland	my|deposits Scotland	SafeDeposits Scotland	Total
2021-22	16,973	18,718	79,467	115,158
2020-21	16,309	17,289	73,076	106,674
2019-20	21,479	21,995	77,644	121,118
2018-19	21,543	27,208	74,606	123,357
2017-18	19,890	157,921	66,664	244,475
2016-17	20,669	102,140	65,099	187,908
The number of deposits released from protection	Letting Protection Service Scotland	my|deposits Scotland	SafeDeposits Scotland	Total
2021-22	22,512	16,267	68,723	107,502
2020-21	26,256	19,703	66,331	112,290
2019-20	30,520	23,537	65,806	119,863
2018-19	30,267	26,559	74,420	131,246
2017-18	28,221	108,965	57,816	195,002
2016-17	29,912	82,849	61,114	173,875

 

5. The number of disputes adjudicated by each government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme in the year to 31 March 2022.

The number of disputes	Letting Protection Service Scotland	my|deposits Scotland	SafeDeposits Scotland
2021-22	369	849	3,588

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