Paying rent
There are no restrictions on how much rent a landlord can charge for their property. The rent is a matter for agreement between the landlord and the tenant.
The rent can be paid weekly, monthly, annually or for some other period by cash, direct debit, standing order or some other method. It is important the landlord and tenant are aware when the rent is due and how the payment will be made. If the payments are being made weekly then the landlord must provide a rent book and receipts.
The rent book should state:
- the landlord or agents name and address
- the amount of rent to be paid
- a summary of the basic rights that a tenant has
- address of the property and the tenants name
Private residential tenancy agreement rent increase
The temporary cap on rent increases during tenancies no longer applies from 1 April 2024. This means that any rent increase notice issued after 31 March 2024, is no longer subject to the 3% temporary rent cap.
If the tenancy agreement is a Private Residential Tenancy agreement (PRT), from 1 December 2017, then the rent can only be increased once in a year (you have to wait 12 months before it can be increased again). The applicable notice period for an assured or short assured tenancy will depend on the tenancy type.
Your landlord must give you at least three months written notice if they wish to increase the rent amount and serve a Rent Increase Notice form ( guidance note for completion) giving you the details of the rent increase. It is expected that the landlord allows 48 hours for delivery of the increase notice whether this is by email or post and this delivery time is factored into the notice given.
Short assured tenancy agreement rent increase
If the tenancy agreement is a Short Assured Tenancy (SAT) then the rent on a property can be increased if both landlord and tenant agree. However there will be times when both parties are not in agreement, therefore the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 lays down three specific circumstances in which a rent increase can be sought:
- within one year of the creation of the statutory assured tenancy, either the landlord or the tenant may propose new terms and also, if he wishes, an increase/decrease to the rent to reflect the new terms. A landlord should do so by serving an Assured Tenancies Notice AT1 (L) and a tenant an Assured Tenancies Notice AT1 (T)
- the landlord may propose a rent increase to take effect at any time during a statutory assured tenancy though not more often than once a year by serving a Assured Tenancies Notice AT2
- a tenant under a Short Assured Tenancy may use an Assured Tenancies AT4 form to apply to the rent assessment committee for a determination of market rent. The rent assessment committee may then change the rent.
As new private residential tenancies came into force on 1 December 2017, you will no longer be able to set up a new assured or short assured tenancy. However these forms must continue to be used for assured tenancies which have begun before 1 December and will continue after that date.
Appealing a Rent Increase
Under a PRT, a landlord can increase the rent no more than once a year and must give a tenant at least three months’ notice of any increase.
If a tenant thinks a proposed rent increase is unreasonable, they can apply to a rent officer at Rent Service Scotland for a rent adjudication. The rent officer will set the rent level based on a range of information about the property and has the ability to decrease the rent it if they think it’s too high.
From 1 April 2024 the process for rent adjudication is temporarily modified for one year.
Rent adjudication is not available if the let property is in a designated Rent Pressure Zone.
Deposits/tenancy deposit scheme
As a landlord it is acceptable to ask for a deposit from the tenant to cover any loss or damage to the property, unpaid bills or rent arrears. The amount that a landlord will normally ask for is the equivalent to one month’s rent and it is a statutory requirement that the deposit does not exceed two month’s rent in accordance with the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984. Every deposit taken must be lodged with an independent third party approved by the Scottish Government.
The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011 came into force in March 2011. The Scheme was introduced in response to concerns about large sums of money that are unfairly withheld from tenants deposits by some landlords and letting agents at the end of a tenancy.
The main objective of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme is to:
- deal with the problem of unfairly withheld deposits
- ensure that deposits are safeguarded for the duration of the tenancy
- ensure that deposits are returned quickly and fairly, particularly where a disagreement over the return of the deposits arises
Landlords who are required to register with their local authority under the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 have a legal obligation to comply with these regulations.
The three schemes that have been approved by the Scottish Ministers are:
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