Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016: consultation on regulations

Section 2: Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement

As outlined in both our earlier consultations ^[4] on the provisions in the 2016 Act, we will produce a Scottish Government Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement which will:

• state the core rights and obligations;
• enable extra terms to be included which were specific to the property and parties involved; and
• be accompanied by a legal commentary which would explain all the provisions in the agreement in plain English.

The Model Tenancy Agreement will be dynamic, which means a user will be able to complete it electronically using fillable fields and it will contain pre-written tenancy terms. It will contain two categories of clause. The first category is the core rights and obligations, which will be mandatory terms that a user cannot alter. The second category is discretionary terms that a landlord may or may not wish to include.

A user will also have the ability to add any free text terms, or vary some of the pre-written discretionary terms, so long as the terms comply with the requirements of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, supporting secondary legislation, Statutory Terms Regulations and other housing legislation.

As you will see on page 83 below, section 4 of the model will contain an easy read legal commentary on each written term. This section has not yet been drafted. This will be done once we have fully developed all of the written terms that will form part of the Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement.

The first stage in the development process is to ensure that the model tenancy agreement contains the necessary appropriate information required. While we appreciate that it would be difficult to include absolutely every tenancy term that might feature in a tenancy agreement, we are seeking your views on whether the draft agreement outlined below contains a robust and comprehensive range of obligatory and discretionary terms that a user is likely to find helpful when creating a tenancy agreement.

The draft Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement is provided below and we are seeking your views on the following questions:

Please Respond By Completing Annex A Which Is The Respondent Information & Consultation Questions. It Contains The Following Questions On The Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement:

Q25. Do you think the proposed 'Recommend Model Tenancy Agreement' is generally fit for purpose?

◘Yes
◘No - please set out why you think the model agreement is not fit for purpose
◘Unsure

Q26. Do you think the proposed 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement' is easy to understand?

◘Yes
◘No - please set out why you think the model agreement is not easy to understand
◘Unsure

Q27. Do you have any comments on the terms numbered from 2 to 10 in the 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement'?

◘Yes - please tell us your comments using the comment box for the relevant term(s)
◘No
◘Unsure

Q28. Do you have any comments on the terms numbered from 11 to 20 in the 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement'?

◘Yes - please tell us your comments using the comment box for the relevant term(s)
◘No
◘Unsure

Q29. Do you have any comments on the terms numbered from 21 to 30 in the 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement'?

◘Yes - please tell us your comments using the comment box for the relevant term(s)
◘No
◘Unsure

Q30. Do you have any comments on the terms numbered from 31 to 43 in the 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement'?

◘Yes - please tell us your comments using the comment box for the relevant term(s)
◘No
◘Unsure

Q31. While users will have the ability to add their own unique tenancy terms, are there any other terms that you think it would be helpful to include as standard terms in the 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement'?

◘Yes - please tell us what the term should be and why you think it should be included
◘No
◘Unsure

Q32. Do you have any other general comments on the 'Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement'?

◘Yes - please tell us what they are
◘No
◘Unsure

Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement
For The Private Rented Sector

Contents

Section 1: How To Use The Model

Section 2: Glossary Of Terms & Interpretation

Section 3: Recommended Model Tenancy Agreement
1. Landlord
2. Letting Agent/Factor/Managing Agent
3. Tenant
4. Communication
5. Details Of The Let Property
6. Date When Tenancy Starts
7. Occupation And Use Of The Let Property
8. Rent
9. Rent Receipts
10. Rent Increases
11. Deposit
12. Landlords Costs And Interest
13. Notification About Other Residents
14. Overcrowding
15. Subletting And Assignation
16. Contents And Condition
17. Local Authority Taxes/Charges
18. Utilities
19. Insurance
20. Absences
21. Reasonable Care
22. Alterations
23. Common Parts
24. Private Garden
25. Roof
26. Bins And Recycling
27. Storage
28. Dangerous Substances
29. Respect For Others
30. Equality Requirements:
31. Pets
32. Smoking
33. The Repairing Standard Etc. And Other Information
    The Repairing Standard
    Repair Timetable
    Payment For Repairs
    Information
34. Liquid Petroleum Gas (Lpg)
35. Legionella
36. Access For Repairs
37. Data Protection
38. Ending The Tenancy
39. Declarations
40. The Guarantor

Section 4: Legal Commentary