39.This section (subsections (1) and (2)) confer powers on local authorities and on the Scottish Ministers to ask landlords who are included in the local authority’s landlord register (that is prepared and maintained under Part 8 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004), or sub-landlords, for the information specified in subsection (3) about any house (or part of it) that is entered in the landlord’s entry in the register. (In section 101(1) of the 2004 Act, “house” is defined as “a building or part of a building occupied or intended to be occupied as a dwelling”, and subsection (2) of that section provides that two or more dwellings which share the same toilet, cooking and washing facilities are treated as a single house for the purpose of a local authority’s landlord register.)
40.The powers may not be exercised more than once in a 12-month period in respect of the same person in relation to the same information about the same house (or the same part of it) (see subsection (4)).
41.Subsection (5) confers a power on a local authority and on the Scottish Ministers to obtain the information specified in subsection (3) from tenants of houses that are entered in the landlord register. The information that may be requested includes the address of the house, the type of tenancy or occupancy arrangement to which the house is subject, the amount and frequency of rent payable under any relevant tenancy, whether the rent includes payment of any costs associated with the house, details of the most recent rent increase, the size and type of the house, the extent to which it is furnished, and the house’s quality, state of repair and energy efficiency.
42.The powers of local authorities and the Scottish Ministers under this section may be exercised for the purpose of exercising their own respective powers, or assisting the other party in the exercise of that party’s powers, under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2025 Act (see subsections (6) and (7)).
43.In making a request for information under subsection (1) or (5), a local authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Scottish Ministers about the form, content or frequency of a request (see subsection (8)). The guidance could, for example, provide that the request must be made in writing (including by electronic communication).
44.The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify the information listed in subsection (3) that may be sought from a registered landlord, or a tenant, under this section (see subsection (10)). In addition, the Scottish Ministers may by regulations add or remove descriptions of persons from whom information may be sought under subsections (1) or (2) (see subsection (11)). Regulations may not be made under this section unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and approved by, the Scottish Parliament (see section 82(3)).
Crown Application Part 1 – Rent Power to seek information relating to tenancies Section 14 - Information that may be sought by local authority or the Scottish Ministers