Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 - letting agent registration: equality impact assessment

Letting agents registration: equality impact assessment results - Equality Impact Assessment Results

Title of Policy:

Part 4 - Housing (Scotland) Bill (“the Bill”)- Amendments to Part 4 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”) – Letting Agent Registration

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of Policy:

The aims of the amendments to Part 4 of the 2014 Act are to ensure that Scottish Ministers have accurate information to allow them to be satisfied that letting agents meet the requirements for registration and to ensure that mechanisms are in place to allow for full consideration of all relevant factors when considering a letting agent’s application or continued registration.

Directorate:

Directorate for Local Government and Housing: Better Homes Division: Housing Strategy and Delivery

Executive summary

Overall assessment results are that the minor modifications for registration of letting agents etc. will affect all tenants within the Private Residential Sector as Scottish Ministers will have more accurate and up to date information on all persons who should be assessed in relation to an agent’s application for registration. The impact of this policy measure on the three aspects of the public sector equality duty is neutral. The measure increases protection for many residential tenants by providing reassurance about the person they are letting property from.

It does not introduce a change in policy or direction; and will not directly or indirectly discriminate against those with protected characteristics. However, the measures are likely to have a positive impact on:

• younger people - it is believed they are more likely to use social media or the Internet to search for rental properties.
• people with disabilities - as screen readers can be used to identify that a letting agent has a LARN and is therefore registered.

Background

The Scottish Government legislated in Part 4 of the 2014 Act for a framework for the regulation of letting agents in Scotland. This framework includes:

• a mandatory register of letting agents with an associated ‘fit and proper’ person test;
• training requirement, to be set by Scottish Ministers through regulations, that must be met to be admitted to the register;
• a statutory code of practice all letting agents must follow;
• a way for tenants and landlords to resolve complaints against letting agents for breaches of the statutory Code of Practice through a new specialist First-tier Tribunal; and
• powers for Scottish Ministers to obtain information and of inspection to support monitoring of compliance and enforcement.

This was introduced with the intention of improving levels of service and professionalism in the private rented sector and to provide additional protection for tenants through strengthening the regulation of the industry.

The requirement for letting agents to register came into force in 2018, with registration lasting three years in most cases. As such, a number of agents have now been through a full registration cycle and have either just renewed or are approaching the point of renewal.

The draft Rented Sector Strategy, A New Deal for Tenants, published for consultation in December 2021^[1], committed to undertaking a review of the existing registration regimes to identify lessons and opportunities for strengthening them. The consultation on the strategy included a general question about the strengths and weaknesses of the registration systems operating in the private rented sector.

As part of the initial review of the Letting Agent Registration System, a number of minor modifications to the existing provisions had been identified which would enable the current system and procedures to work more coherently and effectively. These modifications do not represent a change in policy or direction, but rather are intended to improve the clarity of the requirements and ensure that the registration system operates in line with the original policy intentions. As such, they have not been subject to specific consultation with stakeholders. Further detail on the specific provisions is set out in the Policy Memorandum^[2] which accompanied the Bill.

The Scope of the EQIA

The full EQIA process has been followed, including the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and foster good relationships between people who share a protected characteristics and those who do not.

An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents. The scope of this EQIA built upon that and collected data from: the Scottish Household Survey 2019; Scottish Surveys Core Questions 2019; Scotland’s Census 2011; and referred back to findings from engagement with the Law Society of Scotland in May 2015 when the original legislation was being drafted. In terms of data for this exercise, this is the most up to date data that was available

Key Findings

The key findings following assessment of all the protected characteristics are as follows:

Age

Those renting in the PRS tend to be younger than those in other tenures. PRS households are likely to contain a highest income householder who is between 16 and 34 years old than in social renting or home ownership^[3]. Evidence suggests that in some cases this may be because residents in this age group may be unable to afford or access other tenures such as home ownership^[4].

An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted and it was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the Private Rented Sector (PRS), there was no specific relevance to the age characteristic.

Whilst this largely remains the case, the most recent, available survey providing information on the ages of those within private rents and who would therefore benefit from the proposed amendments are younger. Certain amendments would therefore have a positive impact on the majority of those within the PRS whilst not disadvantaging others.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on eliminating discrimination, harassment or victimisation based on a persons age.

The amendments are not expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on advancing equality of opportunity for different age groups, however, the amendments to section 36 of the 2014 Act – to make the use of the Letting Agent Registration Number (LARN) in online advertisements more explicitly required - is likely to have a positive impact on those who use social media or the internet to search for rental properties. It is believed that this is more prevalent among younger people but will not disadvantage those who would search for rental properties in a more ‘traditional’ sense (e.g. checking adverts in a letting agent’s window), which is believed to be more prevalent amongst older people, as the Act already requires the use of the LARN in these adverts.

Disability

According to the 2022 Scottish Surveys Core Questions^[5], the proportion of adults in the private rented sector who have a limiting long-term physical or mental health condition was 23.2%.

An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted and it was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the disability characteristic.

The amendments are not expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation of those with a disability.

dThe amendments to Section 36 of the 2014 Act will help to advance equality of opportunity as on screen sight readers can be used to identify that a letting agent has a LARN (and is therefore registered) and will ensure agents are displaying their LARN on all online property adverts.

The amendments are not expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively on promoting good relations among and between disable and non-disabled people.

Sex

Experiences of renting can have a gendered dimension. According to the 2022 Scottish Core Questions^[6], an estimated 50.2% of those in the PRS are women. Women earn less on average than men^[7], are less likely to be paid the Living Wage^[8] and are more likely to not be working due to looking after children or home^[9]. This may lead to women having a lower independent income. Whilst there may be income pooling within a couple with a high-income and low-income earner, there will be an unequal reliance on the sharing of income to maintain their standard of living^[10]. The Wealth in Scotland^[11] report also shows that women are less likely to own property than men^[12], and lone parents (of whom 92% in Scotland are women) and working aged women with no children are the least likely groups to own any property.

An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted. It was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the sex characteristic and this remain the case with the proposed amendments.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on eliminating unlawful discrimination around an individual’s sex, on advancing equality of opportunity around an individual’s sex, or in promoting good relations between men and women.

Pregnancy and Maternity

No data has been obtained, but previous assessment involved engagement with the Law Society of Scotland noted that timescales (relating to training) should not disadvantage those on maternity leave.

An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted. It was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the pregnancy and maternity characteristics.

Whilst this largely remains the case, a number of the amendments will have a benefit to those who are pregnant or on maternity leave without disadvantaging others. It should be noted, however, that these amendments are aimed at the letting agents themselves and there is no data available around the pregnancy or maternity characteristics of letting agents themselves.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively on eliminating unlawful discrimination around pregnancy and maternity leave.

The amendment to Section 37 is expected to have a positive impact on advancing equality of opportunity around pregnancy or maternity leave by enabling those who may be pregnant or on maternity leave by reducing the information that requires to be notified to Scottish Ministers in terms of ensuring information is up to date and correct. This will apply to all agents, but will somewhat assist those who are pregnant or on maternity leave.

The amendments to Section 37 are expected to have a positive impact on promoting good relations with those who are pregnant or on maternity leave by enabling Scottish Ministers to take into consideration the impact pregnancy or maternity leave can have on work that can be completed. This will apply to all letting agents but will aid those who may be pregnant or on maternity leave.

Gender reassignment

Data around the prevalence and experiences of trans people in the Scottish private rental sector are limited. An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted. It was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the trans characteristic and this remains the case with the proposed amendments.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively on eliminating unlawful discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity or on promoting good relations between trans and cis people.

Sexual orientation

The available evidence suggests that more cis lesbian, gay and bisexual people privately rent: people living in the private rented sector are more likely to identify as either ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual or other’ (LGB) than the population as a whole: 6.9% compared to 2.9% .

More recent data is not available. An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted. It was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the sexual orientation characteristic and this remains the case with the proposed amendments.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on eliminating unlawful discrimination of individuals based on their sexual orientation; advancing equality of opportunity of individuals based on their sexual orientation; or promoting good relations between those of different sexual orientations.

Race

Recent data from the 2022 Scottish Surveys Core Questions^[13] indicate that just over half (52.3%) of adult respondents in the private rented sector recorded their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’, lower than all other tenures, and 16.5% recorded their ethnicity as White: British, and 2.5% as White: Polish. 6.8% recorded their ethnicity as White 'Other'^[14] and 15.6% recorded their ethnicity as Asian^[15], figures which are both higher than other tenures. All other ethnic groups^[16] make up 6.1% of the private rented sector.

More recent data is not available. An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted. It was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the race characteristic and this remains the case with the proposed amendments.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on eliminating unlawful discrimination of individuals based on their race; on advancing equality of opportunity of individuals based on their race; or on promoting good relations between those of different races.

Religion or belief

According to the 2022 Scottish Surveys Core Questions, the most common religious designation across all housing tenures is ‘no religion’. People who live in the private rented sector and social rented sector are more likely to identify as being 'Muslim' or ‘other religion’^[17] compared to those who own their homes outright and those who own their homes with a mortgage. In 2018-2023, Muslim adults and adults identifying as ‘other religion’ were more likely to be in relative poverty (61% and 31% respectively) than adults overall (19%) and adults belonging to the Church of Scotland (16%), after housing costs were taken into account.^[18]

More recent data is not available. An initial EQIA was undertaken at the outset of the legislation for Letting Agents being drafted. It was noted that whilst the policies were intended to benefit all groups within the PRS there would be no specific relevance to the religion or belief characteristic and this remains the case with the proposed amendments.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact, either positively or negatively, on eliminating unlawful discrimination of individuals based on their religion or belief; on advancing equality of opportunity of individuals based on their religion or belief; or on promoting good relations between those of different religions or beliefs.

Marriage and civil partnership

The Scottish Government does not require assessment against the protected characteristic unless the policy or practice relates to work, for example, HR policies and practices. The proposed amendments are of no specific relevance to the marriage and civil partnership characteristic.

None of the proposed amendments are expected to have any impact either positively or negatively on eliminating unlawful discrimination of individuals based on their marriage or civil partnership.

Recommendations and Conclusion

The findings from the EQIA process have supported that the proposed amendments to Part 4 of the 2014 Act are not discriminatory against any particular equalities groups.

The amendments have a positive impact on certain individuals within the disability and age equality groups, as well as the pregnancy and maternity equality group.

This will help Scottish Ministers to ensure that these groups are not disadvantaged by the policy currently in place which may have an impact on certain equality groups.

The Letting Agent Register has currently been open to agents for over five years. The operation of the Register has demonstrated that some amendments are required to the legislation to better enable Scottish Ministers (and those who act on their behalf) to perform the statutory duties placed on them.

Monitoring of these amendments, and any potential future changes, will be reviewed on an on-going bases as part of the maintaining of the Register.