The institute is looking to appoint a researcher to evaluate whether the current continuing professional development (CPD) needs for letting agents:

• Have enhanced and professionalised practice by letting agents
• Can be further improved for letting agents and tenants
• Signal lessons for other parts of the rented sector.

The funding for the evaluation has been awarded by Safe Deposits Scotland Charitable Trust. The findings of this review would be used to inform the Scottish Government’s whole rented sector strategy, which is expected to be published in 2022/2023.

The approach to the evaluation will review relevant data sets from CIH, local authorities and the housing and property chamber. It will also survey letting agents, interview stakeholders and consult with the sector before determining any conclusions.

Callum Chomczuk, national director of CIH Scotland, said: “The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 made provisions for the regulation of letting agents in Scotland and requires appropriate people in each letting agency to hold a relevant qualification and where necessary undertake additional training on letting agency work.

“Therefore, as we go through the first re-registration period, we want to review the impact of the requirement on letting agencies, in terms of both the qualifications and the 20 hours of CPD to consider whether the policy can be improved to improve outcomes for tenants.

“We look forward to receiving proposals from interested parties and publishing the findings by the end of the year. We hope that they will be used to inform the final detail of the Scottish Government’s rented sector strategy.”