What is a LARN number, and why does my agent need one?

What the number is

LARN stands for letting agent registration number. It looks like LARN1804001 or LARN2010004: the letters, then two digits for the year, then two for the month of registration, then a sequence number.

Registration became compulsory in Scotland in 2018. It applies to the business, not to individual staff, and it is held by the legal entity carrying out the work, which is why a franchise branch sometimes displays a number registered to a company in another country. Belvoir Aberdeen, for example, trades under a registration held by a company in Grantham in England rather than by the local franchisee.

What registration actually requires

• A fit and proper person test applied to the people running the business.
• Client money protection, so that rent and deposits are covered if the agency fails.
• Professional indemnity insurance.
• Compliance with the statutory Letting Agent Code of Practice, which covers written terms, handling of client money, communication standards, repairs and complaints.
• Minimum training and qualification requirements for the people in charge.

That last point matters more than it sounds. The code is enforceable at the First-tier Tribunal, and applying is free, so registration gives you a route that costs nothing to use.

How to check one

The Scottish Government maintains the register and it can be searched by agency name or by number. Two habits are worth adopting. Check the number against the name, because a number that belongs to a different company with a similar name is a real trap. When we researched Aberdeen, Stewart Property Services turned out to hold LARN1807016, while a similarly named Edinburgh company holds LARN1902039.

And check it before you sign rather than after a problem. It takes about a minute.

When an agency does not display it

Treat it as a question rather than an accusation. In our research, every agency that did not display a number still turned out to be properly registered once we looked. What the omission tells you is something about how the agency approaches compliance generally, and about how easy it will be to check anything else.

Ask directly. A registered agency will give you the number immediately. If it will not, that is a different and much clearer signal.

What we found across four Scottish cities

Across the thirty eight Scottish agencies ranked on this site, most display a number and a minority do not.

• Slater Hogg and Howison in Glasgow displays no registration number online, which is why it sits tenth in that city despite running the largest single letting branch in Glasgow with more than four hundred properties.
• Northwood Edinburgh and Rettie do not display one on their lettings pages, so both entries say so rather than guessing.
• Northwood Aberdeen holds LARN1811016, verified, and does not display it.
• Winchesters in Aberdeen is the sharpest case. It holds LARN1812040 and has traded since 2017, but publishes no registration number, no accreditation, no client money protection, no redress scheme and no deposit scheme anywhere on its website, and declines to give fees. It is the second largest agency in the city by listing count and it ranks eighth for exactly that reason.
• Rentlocally in Dundee is the one case where we could not find a number at all, from any source, which is worth asking about directly.

If something goes wrong

Complain to the agency first, following its own procedure. If it is unresolved, apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, Housing and Property Chamber, for breach of the Letting Agent Code of Practice. The tribunal can order the agent to act and can make a payment order, and applying costs nothing.

Where client money has actually gone missing, the client money protection scheme is the route, and every registered agent must hold cover. If the agency is also a Propertymark, RICS or SAL member, those bodies run their own disciplinary processes alongside.