Rent increases if you have a private residential tenancy

If you have a private residential tenancy, your landlord:

• can only increase your rent once in a 12-month period
• must give you at least 3 months’ written notice of the increase

There’s no cap on how much they can increase rent by unless the property is in a Rent Pressure Zone. There are currently no Rent Pressure Zones in Scotland.

The form the landlord must use

Your landlord must use a specific rent increase notice or the rent increase will not be valid.

Check what a rent increase notice looks like on gov.scot.

You must return part 3 of the form to them, saying whether you:

• accept the rent increase
• do not accept the rent increase

If you do not accept the rent increase

You can ask Rent Service Scotland to check the rent increase. They can set the rent amount your landlord can charge.

Rent Service Scotland must receive your application within 21 days of you getting a rent increase notice.

How to get Rent Service Scotland to check a rent increase.

What Rent Service Scotland can do

A rent officer will set the rent amount. They'll do this by assessing the 'open market' rent, based on rents for similar properties in your area.

The amount they set can be higher or lower than the increase your landlord is asking for.

They’ll aim to decide within 40 days of you applying.

They may need to visit your home before making a decision.

If you disagree with the rent officer’s decision

You can ask the rent officer to review their decision. You must do this within 14 working days of getting the decision.

If you still disagree after the review, you can appeal the decision. To do this, apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). You must do this within 14 working days of getting the review decision.

How to apply to the tribunal

Complete form H (Rent Assessment) and send it to the tribunal. Get form H and notes for completing it on the tribunal's website.

You’ll need to send the tribunal copies of:

• the rent officer’s decision
• the original rent increase notice

There’s no cost to appeal to the tribunal.