Galashiels Registered Landlords - Freedom of information requests
Title or Description
Galashiels Registered Landlords
FOI Number
524
Date Received
23/05/2022
Type of Request
FOI
Request or Question
I would like a record of all current registered landlords in the Galashiels TD1 area.
Response
Most landlords in the Scotland are required to register with their Local Authority. The landlord register can be searched to find out who manages a property. The information provided in response to such a query includes the name and a postal contact address for each landlord, however, it only permits targeted searches using a specific property or landlord registration number.We as an authority and data controllers are of the opinion we cannot release the information in the format requested and an explanation to why is provided below.Part 8 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc Act 2004 (the '2004 Act') as amended by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 sets out the way in which information should be provided on the register. Explanatory notes to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 state that the landlords register is controlled so as not to support undesirable purposes such as trawling the register.
The landlord registration site, provides a privacy notice to landlords advising how their information will be used. That advises that the information they provide will be displayed, as required, on the public register. The privacy notice includes a section on personal information available to the public and makes it clear to landlords that:
- The local authority may give out additional information, such as the owner or agent's home or office address, and addresses of other properties the owner lets, if they are satisfied it is appropriate to do so;
- To prevent the mining of landlord's contact details, the online public search only permits targeted searches using a specific property or landlord registration number.
The disclosure of this information to you (and therefore into the public domain) would make information on the register considerably more widely available than was intended and would allow the general trawling of the information that the provisions in the 2004 Act were expressly designed to avoid.
The Council holds the register for specific statutory purposes which limit the ways in which the register can be accessed. Given the specific purpose behind the legislation, we are of the view that disclosure of the requested information would result in the Council failing to meet its responsibilities under the 2004 Act (as amended) given that the purpose behind the amendment was introduced to prevent information being released in this way.
In addition, disclosure of the information would prevent the Council from considering on an individual basis (in terms of section 88A(4) of the 2004 Act) whether specific information should be withheld because its disclosure would be likely to jeopardise the safety or welfare of any person or the security of any premises.
We believe the exemption in section 30(c) of the Act applies in this case.
The council would still be obliged to release the information in response to your request unless the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. However, we are of the view that there is a greater public interest in ensuring that the effectiveness of the provisions controlling access to information within the landlord register are not undermined and therefore ensuring that the Council acts within the limit of its statutory powers as set out in the 2004 Act.
In forming this view, we have taken into account Decision 063/2011 by the Scottish Information Commissioner. For information, you can access the Decision Notice via the link below:
