Rights of Private Tenants
Make sure you are aware of your rights as a private renter
Rights of Private Tenants
This guide has been produced by Age Scotland for those who rent privately from a landlord. This guide has a range of information that will help you understand your rights and responsibilities while you rent your home privately.
It covers topics such as how to get repairs done in line with your tenancy agreement, the right to make adaptations to your home and where you can find further details on getting gas and electricity safety checks done.
There are two types of private tenancy agreements in Scotland:
Private Residential Tenancy
If you started your tenancy after 1 December 2017 you will have a Private Residential Tenancy.
This type of tenancy is open-ended, which means you can’t be asked to leave simply because you have reached the end of a fixed period.
If you want to end the tenancy, you must give your landlord at least 28 days’ written notice.
Your landlord can only increase your rent once every twelve months, with at least three months’ written notice. If you think the increase is unfair, you can ask a Rent Officer at Rent Service Scotland to review it. You can contact Rent Service Scotland on 0300 244 7000.
Short Assured Tenancy
Until 1 December 2017 most private tenancies were Short Assured Tenancies.
Short Assured Tenancies are for fixed periods, with an initial period of at least six months. Your tenancy agreement may say it will continue on a month-to-month basis after the first fixed period ends, or it may renew for a further fixed period of the same length as the first one, usually for 6 months.
Your tenancy agreement may state when and how the rent may be increased.
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