Types of Tenancy Agreements
There are several different types of tenancy agreements but as a student tenant, you’ll mainly be given a Private Residential Tenancy Agreement.
Private Residential Tenancy Agreement
All new tenancy agreements from December 1st 2017 must be Private Residential Tenancy Agreements, though previous tenancy agreements might remain until you or your landlord bring them to an end. This does not apply however if the tenancy is with a landlord who also lives in the property as their main home and then it is a ‘common law’ tenancy.
Tenancy agreements following December 1st 2017 must be private residential agreements if:
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You live in the property as your only/your main house
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The tenancy is not excluded from Schedule 1 on the Private Housing (Tenancies) Act
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If the flat is rented to you as a separate dwelling
What does this mean?
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You can end your agreement at any point by giving your landlord at least 28 days’ notice.
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Your rent cannot go up more than once a year and you must receive 3 months' notice in advance.
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If you’ve lived in the property for more than 6 months, the landlord must give you 84 days of notice to leave (unless you’ve done something wrong e.g. damage to the property/ excessive noise complaints).
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If you think the rent increase is unreasonable, it can be referred to a rent officer who can decide if the rent is reasonable or not.
If you don’t receive...
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A written copy of all the terms of your tenancy
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The correct set of notes to accompany your written tenancy terms
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A document explaining any updated terms of your tenancy within 28 days of change.
...you can apply to the First-tier tribunal* to put things right. If you take this action, you ought to inform your landlord with 28 days' notice (you can find more information on this process here).
The other 3 tenancy types are:
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Short Assured Tenancy
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Assured Tenancy
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Regulated Tenancy
More information here
Other help
There is a charity called Shelter Scotland which has an excellent website full of advice about renting for students, and with a helpline and live chat if you need advice on a specific housing problem.
If you rent from a private landlord in Edinburgh, then your landlord should be registered with Edinburgh City Council. If you rent from a letting agency they should be registered with the Scottish Government. This helps ensure they are a fit and proper person or agency to let property. There is a fine if landlords are not registered You can check if your landlord or agency is registered here and/or here, by searching for their name or the address of the property, or the name of the agency.
Citizen’s Advice Scotland is another charity which gives excellent advice and at the following link you can find information about:
Make sure to also check out the rest of our guide which has more info on these topics.