Rented sector reform: landlord and tenant engagement questionnaire - analysis report

5: Greater flexibility to personalise a home

The Scottish Government is developing measures that would change the tenancy framework so that all private tenants with a PRT would be able to make certain minor modifications without consent, and would have the right to request certain other modifications that a landlord could not unreasonably refuse.

This approach would result in the following categories of changes that private tenants with a PRT could make to personalise their home:

• Category 1: No approval from landlord required - private tenants would be allowed to make certain minor modifications to the let property without prior agreement from their landlord. For example, putting pictures and posters on walls.
• Category 2: Right to request and landlord cannot unreasonably refuse – private tenants would have a new right to request to make certain larger changes to the let property and for their request to not to be unreasonably refused, where they had lived in the let property for a set period of time.

Tenants would be able to ask for more substantial modifications to the property’s fixtures and fittings, but these would continue to be at the discretion of the landlord as is currently the case. This means the landlord could refuse modifications that did not fall into either category 1 or 2 above without any test of reasonableness.

Question 22 – Do you agree that some small changes (for example putting up pictures and posters) should not require consent?

Responses to Question 22 by respondent type are set out in Table 20 below.

A majority of respondents, 75% of those answering the question, agreed that some small changes (for example putting up pictures and posters) should not require consent. The remaining 25% of those answering the question did not agree.

A substantial majority of PRS and SRS tenants, and those in ‘None of the above’ or ‘None selected’ groups agreed with the proposal, with support ranging from 97% to 100%. A majority of SRS landlord organisations and SRS tenant organisations also favoured this option, at 79% and 75% respectively.

However, other groups, including PRS landlords, PRS landlord organisations and SRS landlords, were evenly divided on this issue.

Question 23 – Do you agree that other bigger changes (for example painting walls and installing wall shelves) can be requested and not unreasonably refused?

Responses to Question 23 by respondent type are set out in Table 21 below.

A majority of respondents, 70% of those answering the question, also agreed that other bigger changes can be requested and not unreasonably refused. The remaining 30% of those answering the question did not agree.

As with respect to smaller changes, a substantial majority of PRS and SRS tenants, and those in ‘None of the above’ or ‘None selected’ groups agreed with the proposal, with support ranging from 97% to 100%. A majority of SRS landlord organisations and SRS tenant organisations also favoured this option, at 71% and 75% respectively.

However, a small majority of PRS landlords and PRS landlord organisations did not agree, 62% and 55% respectively, and SRS landlords, were evenly divided on this issue.

Question 24 – How long should landlords have to respond to a request for a change that cannot be unreasonably refused?

Responses to Question 24 by respondent type are set out in Table 22 below.

A majority of respondents, 63% of those answering the question, thought landlords should have to respond to a request for a change that cannot be unreasonably refused in 20 working days. Of the remaining respondents, 27% favoured 30 working days, 4% favoured 40 working days and 7% more than 40 working days.

A substantial majority of PRS and SRS tenants, and those in ‘None of the above’ and ‘None selected’ groups, chose the 20 working days option, with support ranging from 94% to 99%. Although in a minority, the 20 working days option was also supported by some of those in other groups. For example, 25% of PRS landlords and 35% of SRS landlords selected 20 working days.

Those favouring the 30 working days option included small majorities from the PRS landlord, PRS landlord organisation and SRS landlord organisation groups, at 53%, 54% and 57% respectively.

Although the overall level of support was not high, 14% of PRS landlords and 21% of SRS landlords thought that landlords should have more than 40 working days to respond to a request for a change.

Question 25 – How long should the tenant have lived in the let property before they can request bigger changes that cannot be unreasonably refused?

Responses to Question 25 by respondent type are set out in Table 23 below.

Respondents were most likely to think a tenant should have lived in the let property for 3 months before they can request bigger changes that cannot be unreasonably refused. However, while just 50% of all respondents answering the question chose 3 months, a substantial majority of PRS and SRS tenants, and those in the ‘None of the above’ and ‘None selected’ groups, preferred this option; with support ranging from 89% to 96%.

The next most frequently chosen option was 12 months, with 38% of all those answering the question preferring the longer time period. This included a majority of PRS landlords, PRS landlord organisations and SRS landlords, with support at 77%, 72% and 72% respectively.