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What Is a Private Residential Tenancy in Scotland?

A private residential tenancy is the standard open-ended tenancy for private renters in Scotland, used for new lets since 1 December 2017. It has no fixed end date: you can leave by giving at least 28 days’ written notice, and your landlord can only end it using one of 18 eviction grounds, with 28 or 84 days’ notice.

What a private residential tenancy is

The private residential tenancy was introduced on 1 December 2017. The Scottish Government’s tenant guide says the tenancy is open-ended and lasts until you choose to leave, unless your landlord uses one of the eviction grounds.

This guide covers Scotland only. Tenants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have different tenancy types and rules.

In practice this means:

  • There is no fixed term that runs out and leaves you without a home.
  • Your landlord cannot end the tenancy just because they want to. They need a ground.
  • Rent rises follow set rules, with a set form and notice.
  • Disputes go to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber), not the sheriff court.

How you can end it

mygov.scot says you must give your landlord at least 28 days’ notice (4 weeks). The notice must be in writing. Email, a letter or handing it over in person all count. It must say you want to end the tenancy and give the date it ends.

If you send it by email or letter, mygov.scot says you must allow 2 extra days for your landlord to receive it. You can ask your landlord to agree to a shorter notice period. If they agree, get that in writing.

For a wider look at notice rules across the UK, see how much notice you need to give to leave a rented home.

How your landlord can end it

Your landlord must give you a notice to leave. This is a legal document. It must state that you must leave, the eviction ground being used and the notice period. There are 18 grounds. They include the landlord intending to sell, refurbish or live in the property, rent arrears over 3 consecutive months, and the tenant breaching a term of the tenancy.

The notice period depends on the ground and how long you have lived there.

Eviction grounds Lived there under 6 months Lived there 6 months or more
Grounds 1 to 9 and 16 to 18 (for example selling, refurbishing, landlord moving in) 28 days 84 days
Grounds 10 to 15 (for example rent arrears, breach of tenancy, antisocial behaviour) 28 days 28 days

If the landlord uses more than one ground, the longer notice period applies.

A notice to leave does not remove you by itself. If you do not move out by the end of the notice period, your landlord needs to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an eviction order. mygov.scot warns landlords that harassing a tenant into leaving could be an illegal eviction.

If a tenancy is wrongfully ended, the tribunal can award a wrongful termination payment of up to 36 months’ rent. Where rent is under £840 a month, the tribunal uses £840 for that calculation.

Rent increases

Under a private residential tenancy in Scotland:

  • Your landlord can only increase your rent once in a 12-month period.
  • They must give you at least 3 months’ written notice.
  • They must use the official rent increase notice, signed and dated. mygov.scot says your landlord cannot increase your rent if they do not use the correct notice.
  • If you got less than 3 months’ notice, you do not need to pay the higher rent until 3 months have passed.

If you think the increase is too high, return part 3 of the notice saying you do not accept it, and apply to Rent Service Scotland. Your application must arrive within 21 days of you getting the rent increase notice. A rent officer then sets the rent based on what similar local properties would let for. This may be higher or lower than your landlord asked for. You can ask for a review, then appeal to the First-tier Tribunal, within 14 working days each time.

On caps: the mygov.scot tenant page on rent increases (last updated 1 May 2026) says there is no cap on how much a landlord can increase rent by. The Scottish Parliament passed the Housing (Scotland) Bill in September 2025, which gives ministers the power to bring in long-term rent controls. We have not found a mygov.scot page that sets out how those controls apply to tenants yet, so check mygov.scot before relying on any cap.

For how rent rises work in other parts of the UK, see how much a landlord can increase rent.

Deposits and disputes

Your landlord can ask for a deposit of no more than two months’ rent. Most landlords must put it in one of 3 approved tenancy deposit schemes. Our guide to tenancy deposit rules in Scotland covers deadlines, the schemes and what to do if your deposit was not protected. You can work out the maximum with the tenancy deposit calculator.

Eviction orders and rent appeals go to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). mygov.scot says there is no cost to appeal a rent decision to the tribunal.

Worked example (fictional)

Morven has rented a flat in Glasgow for 2 years at £800 a month. Her landlord sends a valid rent increase notice asking for £880 a month.

  • Increase: £880 − £800 = £80 a month.
  • Over a year: £80 × 12 = £960 extra.
  • The notice must give her at least 3 months before the new rent starts.
  • If she wants a rent officer to look at it, Rent Service Scotland must receive her application within 21 days of her getting the notice.

Six months later, her landlord decides to sell (ground 1). Because Morven has lived there for 6 months or more, the notice to leave must give her 84 days. If she is still there when it ends, her landlord must get an eviction order from the tribunal.

If the tribunal later found the tenancy had been wrongfully ended, the most it could award would be 36 months’ rent: £880 × 36 = £31,680.

Not sure you can afford a new place if you need to move? The renting calculators hub brings together tools to check affordability, deposits and moving costs in one place.

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Report a possible error.