Cost of living: rent and eviction

Rent increase calculator

The figures produced by the calculator are for illustrative purposes only.

You can only receive a formal rent adjudication decision by applying to Rent Service Scotland (or the First-tier Tribunal, where appropriate) and the decision may be different to the figures produced by the calculator.

Determining the open market rate

If an application for rent adjudication is made, the rent set by Rent Service Scotland, or the First-tier Tribunal, will depend on the open market rent for the property.

Rent Service Scotland uses a range of information to determine the open market rent with the primary evidence coming from its ‘Market Evidence Database.’

This market evidence is sourced through a variety of means, including advertised rental information, private landlord and letting agent returns, and mailshot initiatives, although the majority of evidence is obtained from advertised rents.

Rent Service Scotland publishes its previous adjudication decisions and the comparative rents it has used to make its decisions.

There’s no single source of data that can be consulted to work out open market rent. If you wanted an idea of what an open market rent might be, you could look at, for example, existing adverts for similar properties in your local area.

It’s important to remember that a tenant does not need to know what open market rent is to make an application to Rent Service Scotland. They just need to supply details about the property and the rent and Rent Service Scotland will undertake the assessment.