The national approval rate for Scotland's Landlord Registration Scheme has increased from 15 to 75% in the last 12 months and the number of landlords' applications which have been approved has risen by more than 500% from 13,500 to around 86,000 today

Communities Minister, Stewart Maxwell revealed the news on the second anniversary of the introduction of the registration scheme, which is designed to ensure that all private landlords meet minimum legal requirements.

In a speech at the National Landlord Day conference, he also announced the launch of the new National Landlord Accreditation Scheme, Landlord Accreditation Scotland (LAS), which is designed to go beyond the minimum requirements of landlord registration by promoting best practice in the private rented housing sector.

LAS will raise standards by encouraging private landlords to seek voluntary accreditation as a way of rewarding them for managing their properties to certain standards. Members will also need to agree to attend at least one training course each year to ensure there is a commitment to continuous improvement in their practices. The scheme will also allow tenants looking for a property to find out which landlords are meeting these higher requirements.

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Mr Maxwell said: "I know that local authorities have put considerable effort into improving the delivery of the scheme over the past year and we can see that this is now paying off.

"There is still work to be done and I want to focus our efforts on enforcing legislation and removing the worst landlords who continue to give the sector a bad reputation. The substantial increase in the number of registration applications does indicate that enforcement of the scheme is improving."

John Blackwood, director of the Scottish Association of Landlords, added: "Reputable landlords want to see landlord registration take the appropriate action against rogue landlords and welcome a landlord accreditation as a positive step towards engaging with landlords and letting agents in promoting best landlord practice in Scotland."

Archie Stoddart, director of Shelter Scotland, said: "We fully supported landlord registration as a way to raise standards in the private rented sector and remove rogue landlords. Progress was far too slow to start with but it is encouraging that 75% of landlords are now registered. We hope it that it will not be long until that figure is 100%."

(GK/JM)