Private residential tenancy: information for tenants
Guidance for private sector tenants on the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016.
This section contains information on what to do if you or your landlord wants to end the tenancy.
If you want to end the tenancy
You have to give your landlord at least 28 days' notice in writing if you want to end the tenancy (unless you ask for shorter notice and they agree in writing).
The notice period will begin on the day your landlord gets your notice, and ends 28 days after that date.
So if you send the notice to your landlord by post or email, you must allow your landlord 48 hours to receive it. This delivery time should be added onto the amount of notice you give your landlord.
If you send your landlord a notice to leave by recorded delivery post on 23 January, they will be expected to receive the notice on 25 January; the 28 days' notice period will start on 25 January and end on 21 February, so the earliest date you could leave the let property would be 22 February.
You cannot give notice before you move into the let property. Your notice has to be given 'freely and without coercion'. This means your landlord must not have pressured you into leaving. If your landlord tries to persuade or force you to leave without following the correct legal process then they could be carrying out an illegal eviction. This is a criminal offence in Scotland. An example of an illegal eviction by coercion could be carrying out work that makes it impossible for you to continue to stay in the property, e.g. removing the toilet or stopping the drinking water supply.
You and your landlord can agree a different notice period. But this must be in writing and can only be done once you have started to live in the let property. Your agreement to change the notice period must be given 'freely and without coercion'. If your landlord has inserted a longer notice period into your tenancy agreement before you started living in the let property, the notice period will be invalid and the 28 day notice period will apply.
If you give your landlord notice but then change your mind before it ends, you can ask them to continue the tenancy instead. It's up to your landlord to decide whether to agree.
To end a joint tenancy, all the joint tenants must agree to end the tenancy and sign the notice to leave. One joint tenant cannot terminate a joint tenancy on behalf of all the joint tenants.
If your landlord wants to end the tenancy
Your landlord can only end your tenancy by using one of the grounds for eviction. When your landlord gives you notice to leave, they must tell you what eviction ground(s) they are using and may provide evidence to support this. They must use a specific notice called a ‘Notice to Leave’ to do this.
Notice needed
Notice periods from 30 March 2022 onwards
The amount of notice your landlord must give you will depend on how long you’ve lived in the property and the grounds your landlord is using to evict you.
You must be given at least 28 days' notice if you have lived in the property for six months or less, regardless of what eviction ground your landlord is using.
Regardless of how long you have lived in the property, your landlord must give you at least 28 days' notice if they are using one or more of the following eviction grounds:
- tenant is no longer occupying the let property
- tenant has breached a term(s) of tenancy agreement
- tenant is in rent arrears of three consecutive months or more
- tenant has a relevant criminal conviction
- tenant has engaged in relevant antisocial behaviour
- tenant associates with a person who has a relevant conviction or has engaged in relevant antisocial behaviour
Your landlord must give you at least 84 days' notice if you have lived in the property for more than six months, and they aren't relying solely on any of the grounds listed above.
Eviction orders
If your landlord gives you a notice to leave and you don't move out as soon as the notice period ends, they can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an eviction order.
When your landlord applies for an eviction order they must give the First-tier Tribunal a copy of the 'notice to leave' they gave you, stating which of the grounds for eviction they gave you.
Your landlord can only make an application for an eviction order if it's been less than six months since the notice they gave you expired.
Sub-tenants
If you are a sub-tenant, you will be protected from eviction unless your landlord is being evicted using certain grounds.
A sub-tenant is someone who is legally renting the property from a landlord/head tenant. The landlord must have permission from their landlord (the 'head landlord') to sub-let the property to you.
If the Head Landlord wants to bring a sub-tenancy to an end, they have to give you a 'sub-tenancy notice to leave', which includes a copy of the notice they gave your landlord/head tenant.
Sub-Tenant Notice periods from 30 March 2022 onwards
The landlord must give you (the sub-tenant) 28 days' notice if you have lived in the property for six months or less, or 84 days' notice if you’ve lived there for more than six months.
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