PRINGLE CALLS FOR DEPOSIT PROTECTION SCHEME

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 1st Jun 2009

Commenting on an announcement that the Scottish Government is considering new ways of resolving disputes between landlords and tenants over deposits, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh South Mike Pringle said:

"It's about time that the Scottish Government took action to protect tenants from rogue landlords.

"It's not right that households already struggling in the current financial crisis can be held to ransom by unscrupulous landlords who don't return their deposits.

"Tenants in England already have their deposits protected by law under the self-funding Deposit Protection Service. A similar scheme should be introduced in Scotland."

Notes to Editors:

Mike Pringle lodged the following motion in the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 2009.

S3M-04078 Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): Landlord Registration in Scotland, Three Years On- That the Parliament welcomes the report from Shelter Scotland, Landlord registration in Scotland: three years on, which examines the progress that councils have made towards implementation of the landlord registration scheme to register all private landlords and agents; notes the concerns highlighted in the report that landlord registration is not yet fulfilling the expectations placed on it, and calls on the Scottish Government to review immediately the effectiveness of the landlord registration scheme in order to overcome the barriers preventing the system from working effectively, to clarify the aims of landlord registration to ensure that local authorities have the means and resources not only to administer the process of registering landlords but also to address worst practice and protect tenants, to ensure that tenants and landlords are fully aware of their renting rights and responsibilities and to take action to get rid of the worst landlords and to introduce a mandatory tenant deposit scheme to protect tenants from rogue landlords.