MORE Glasgow landlords than anywhere else in Scotland have been found breaching a law designed to protect tenants' deposits.

During the last 18 months more than 200 landlords from across Scotland have been forced to pay out having failed to lodge deposits with one of three government-approved schemes.

Rented properties in Glasgow accounted for the greatest number of cases heard by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.

In one case in Shawlands, a landlord with more than a decade's experience did not protect her tenant's deposit despite including deposit protection as a clause in the tenancy agreement.

The tenants paid £500 each at the start of the tenancy.

READ MORE: Private landlord raked up £372,000 in public money in North Ayrshire

When it ended, the landlord requested a deduction which the tenant disputed and it emerged the landlord had not lodged the deposit with a government-approved scheme.

She had used deposit protection schemes for previous tenancies, but this oversight cost her the deduction she requested.

The tenants were awarded £1000.

In figures compiled by SafeDeposits Scotland, the largest award was made to tenants renting a property in Edinburgh, where the landlord was ordered to pay out £3,937.50, and the lowest was £50 for a property in Hamilton.

Rented properties in Glasgow accounted for the greatest number of cases heard by the Tribunal, closely followed by Edinburgh, with 38 and 37 cases respectively.

READ MORE: Glasgow Labour MSP proposes rent caps to curb power of city landlords

Victoria Smith, Chief Operating Officer at SafeDeposits Scotland, said: "Deposit protection legislation is designed to protect all parties involved in the private rented sector and costs landlords nothing to comply with.

"The schemes also offer free and impartial adjudication services to ensure that any deductions from deposits are fair and can be scrutinised.

"We believe that the overwhelming majority of landlords operate within the rules, but the findings from our research into the first 18 months of the First-tier Tribunal demonstrates that there are some out there who don’t.

For all your breaking Glasgow news, click here, or head to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages

"In most of the cases we’ve looked at, the landlord has not acted out of malice, but was either simply unaware of the legislation or forgot, however, that does not reassure tenants or save landlords from fines."

Since the Tribunal began hearing cases of non-compliance with deposit protection at the end of 2017, £186,657 has been paid out to tenants, the equivalent of more than £900 per case.