Private Residential Tenancy Scotland 2026 — Complete Landlord Guide to PRT, Registration, and Eviction Grounds

The Private Residential Tenancy — core features and how it differs from England

The PRT replaced both Short Assured Tenancies (equivalent of England's ASTs) and the longer Assured Tenancies in Scotland. Its core features distinguish it clearly from the English regime:

• Open-ended — no fixed term: All PRTs are open-ended from the outset — there is no fixed end date, no initial period, and no concept of a 'rolling' tenancy. Scotland implemented this in December 2017 — the same reform England implemented in May 2026 via the RRA 2025. A PRT tenancy agreement must not specify an end date; any end date included is void
• Statutory written tenancy agreement: The Scottish Government has published a model PRT written tenancy agreement covering mandatory clauses. Landlords must provide tenants with a written tenancy agreement before or at the start of the tenancy. The mandatory clauses (set by the Private Residential Tenancies (Statutory Terms) (Scotland) Regulations 2017) include the parties, property, rent, notice provisions, and key rights and obligations. Additional clauses can be included provided they do not conflict with the statutory terms
• No Section 21 — only 18 statutory grounds: There is no equivalent of Section 21 (or its reformed English successor under RRA 2025) in Scotland. Landlords can only recover possession by establishing one of the 18 statutory grounds in Schedule 3 to the PHT(S)A 2016. The grounds include: tenant failing to pay rent; tenant abandonment; landlord intending to sell; landlord or family member intending to occupy; significant refurbishment; planning permission withdrawn; and landlord not complying with a statutory notice (e.g. HMO licence revoked). Several grounds are discretionary — the tribunal may refuse possession even where the ground is made out
• First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber): Eviction applications under the PRT go to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) — not the Sheriff Court. The FTT process is designed to be more accessible and less adversarial than court proceedings. The FTT has specialist housing judges and members. For abandonment cases, landlords can apply for an Abandonment Order directly from the FTT. Appeals from FTT decisions go to the Upper Tribunal for Scotland and then to the Court of Session
• Tenant notice period: A tenant wishing to leave a PRT must give 28 days' notice (one month). There is no minimum occupation period before a tenant can give notice. The tenant's notice does not need to specify any particular ground

Landlord notice periods and eviction grounds — Scotland's 18 grounds

Scottish landlords must serve a Notice to Leave on the tenant specifying one of the 18 Schedule 3 grounds before applying to the FTT for an eviction order. Notice periods vary by ground:

• 28-day notice grounds (most mandatory grounds): Grounds where the tenant is at fault — Ground 1 (rent arrears of at least 3 months — mandatory); Ground 2 (criminal conviction); Ground 3 (antisocial behaviour); Ground 8 (associate convicted of relevant offence) — require 28 days notice. These are mandatory grounds: where the FTT is satisfied the ground is made out, it must make an eviction order
• 84-day notice grounds (landlord circumstance grounds): Grounds where the landlord has a personal reason to recover possession — Ground 5 (landlord intends to sell within 3 months of FTT decision); Ground 6 (landlord's lender intends to sell — mortgagee in possession); Ground 7 (landlord intending to use for non-residential purpose); Ground 8 (landlord or family member intending to occupy); Ground 9 (property required for religious purposes); Ground 10 (significant refurbishment requiring vacant possession); Ground 11 (HMO licence revoked); Ground 12 (property no longer meeting HMO standards) — require 84 days notice. Most of these are mandatory grounds provided the stated intention is genuine
• Notice to Leave — prescribed form: The Notice to Leave must be in the form prescribed by the Private Residential Tenancies (Prescribed Notices and Forms) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. It must identify the tenancy, the ground(s) relied on, and the date from which the landlord requires the property to be vacated. An incorrectly completed Notice to Leave is invalid — the FTT will reject the application
• FTT eviction order — enforcement: Where the FTT grants an eviction order, the order requires the tenant to vacate by a specified date. If the tenant does not vacate, the landlord must apply to the Sheriff Court for a warrant for ejection (not the FTT — enforcement is a court process). This two-stage process (FTT order → Sheriff Court warrant) is a distinctive feature of the Scottish eviction process

Scottish Landlord Registration — mandatory before letting

Scottish Landlord Registration has been mandatory for private landlords since the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004. It is separate from any English or Welsh registration requirements:

• Who must register: All private landlords who let residential property in Scotland must register with their local council via the Scottish Landlord Register (landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk). This includes landlords of single properties, HMO operators, and landlords who use letting agents. There is no exemption for occasional or incidental lettings. A landlord must be registered before granting a PRT — letting without registration is a criminal offence
• Fit and proper person test: The registration application includes a fit and proper person test. Local councils can refuse registration or revoke a landlord's registration if the landlord (or a connected person) has been convicted of relevant offences (dishonesty; violence; sexual offences; drugs; discrimination) or has demonstrated unsatisfactory management conduct. A landlord who fails the fit and proper person test cannot legally let property in Scotland
• Registration renewal: Scottish Landlord Registration must be renewed every 3 years. Landlords must also update their registration when they acquire additional properties or when their personal circumstances change (change of agent; new conviction). Failure to renew is a criminal offence. The registration fee is payable per landlord (not per property) with an additional fee per property listed
• HMO licensing in Scotland: HMO licensing in Scotland is administered under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (as amended). All properties in Scotland occupied by 3 or more unrelated persons must hold an HMO licence from the local authority — the threshold is lower than England's mandatory HMO licensing threshold (5 persons) for most applications. HMO licences in Scotland must be renewed every 3 years. The HMO licence and Scottish Landlord Registration are separate and must both be held

Rent Pressure Zones and rent review under the Scottish PRT

Scotland has a more interventionist rent review framework than England — including the ability to designate Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) where rent increases are capped below the general Scottish market rent level:

• Annual rent review limit: Under a PRT, rent can only be increased once per 12-month period. The landlord must use the statutory rent increase notice (Form AT2 or the equivalent PRT notice form) giving at least 3 months' notice of the proposed increase. The tenant has 21 days from the notice to refer the proposed increase to Rent Service Scotland for a market rent determination
• Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ): Under the PHT(S)A 2016, Scottish Ministers can designate areas as Rent Pressure Zones where annual rent increases are capped at a specified percentage (calculated by reference to CPI inflation and a defined additional percentage). An RPZ designation applies to all PRTs in the designated area. As of 2026, no RPZ designations have been made — the Scottish Government used emergency rent cap measures during 2022-2024 instead (Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, since expired)
• Rent Service Scotland: Rent Service Scotland is the Scottish Government body that adjudicates rent disputes under the PRT regime. Where a tenant challenges a proposed rent increase, Rent Service Scotland determines the open market rent for the property. The landlord cannot charge more than the Rent Service Scotland determination. Decisions of Rent Service Scotland can be appealed to the FTT
• Emergency rent cap (2022-2024) — now expired: The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 introduced an emergency rent cap (initially 0%, later 3%) on PRT rent increases and a moratorium on evictions for certain grounds. These measures were temporary and have now expired. The standard PRT rent review rules (once per 12 months; 3 months notice; tenant referral right to Rent Service Scotland) apply in 2026

Frequently asked questions