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Since the introduction of a compulsory registration scheme in Scotland 5 years ago which has cost £17.4m to date, only 100 landlords have been banned.
Out of a total of 200,000, the 100 who have had their licences refused or revoked are equivalent to just 0.05% (figures obtained by the Scottish Conservative Party).
Landlords have paid £11.2m in fees to the scheme, while taxpayers have contributed £5.2m. Annual running fees are estimated to be just under £300,000.
The Conservatives said the scheme has been a costly failure. Tory housing spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “This farcical programme, introduced with the best of intentions, is failing to deliver at a tremendous cost to the taxpayer, and responsible people with aspirations to get into the property business are being hit in the pocket because of this inadequate scheme. The private rented sector is playing an increasingly important role in delivering solutions to housing need in Scotland, and we need a robust and efficient mechanism to help achieve that. These figures suggest that, at the moment, the Private Landlord Registration Scheme is not it.”
The Scottish government said that the scheme had been introduced to provide reassurance to tenants, but the figures may not provide much assurance to the London borough of Newham which has just introduced blanket compulsory licensing, and to Liverpool which is considering a compulsory city-wide scheme
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