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Tenancy agreements - tenants

Last updated
28 Jun 2019

If you're about to rent a home from a private landlord, you should first sign the tenancy agreement.

This is a document that lays out the terms of your tenancy and a set of rules that both you and your landlord should follow.

Your landlord must give you a tenancy agreement by law.

When you sign a tenancy agreement, check it to make sure:

  • it's for the address you're moving into
  • your landlord's contact details (or their letting agent's) are included
  • the rent in the agreement is correct, and whether you're expected to pay it monthly or weekly
  • it gives the reasons your landlord can take money off your deposit
  • it says what type of tenancy it is
  • if it's a renewal of a short assured or assured tenancy, that the length of the lease is what you agreed – normally 6 or 12 months

If the tenancy is a private residential tenancy there'll be no specified lease length. Private residential tenancies are open-ended and will last until either the tenant gives notice that they wish to leave the let property, or the landlord uses one or more of the 18 grounds for eviction. The tenant cannot give notice until after the tenancy has begun.

A tenancy agreement could also give information on:

  • whether the rent covers services (gas or electricity) and who's responsible for paying council tax (usually you)
  • the date the rent should be paid, and how it should be paid (such as cheque or direct debit)
  • the amount of deposit to be paid and in what circumstances it won't be returned
  • who should be responsible for repairing and decorating the property
  • whether any furniture is provided
  • how much notice you or your landlord have to give to end the lease
  • whether lodgers or subletting are allowed
  • any other terms, like whether you have to look after a garden, or whether you're allowed to keep a pet

Private residential tenancies

If you're signing a tenancy agreement for a new tenancy, you should be told that you're signing up to a 'private residential tenancy'.

You may hear about other types of tenancy, like assured, short assured or regulated. It's no longer possible to create one of these tenancies. Any new tenancy that started on or after 1 December 2017 is a private residential tenancy. Find out more about private residential tenancies on gov.scot.

Your tenancy agreement should be written in easy to understand language and should not have any unfair terms. Unfair terms are conditions that are not legally binding because they try to take away a right you would have in law, or would impose unfair duties on you.

These include:

  • making you pay for any repairs that are your landlord's responsibility
  • saying it's up to your landlord to decide whether the terms of the lease have been breached
  • allowing your landlord to enter the property without giving notice
  • not making it clear that your landlord will have to get an order (from the Housing and Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal) before they can take possession of the property

Your landlord cannot charge you for providing written tenancy terms or any other information they are required by law to provide.

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