This content applies to Scotland only.

Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. Get advice relating to England

This page applies to you if you are a regulated tenant or a housing association tenant who has been a tenant with the housing association since before 1989. It explains how to apply to a rent officer for a fair rent, how fair rents are determined and how increases can be introduced.

What is a fair rent?

Fair rents are set by rent officers and should be fair both to the tenant and the landlord. A fair rent reflects the quality of your accommodation but doesn't take into account market forces, such as a shortage of rental properties in your area. Fair rents are therefore lower than market rents, which are affected by the availability of other similar accommodation in the area.

Who can apply to have a fair rent registered?

The following tenants have the right to have a fair rent registered by a rent officer:

• regulated tenants
• tenants who were secure tenants of a housing association whose tenancy was converted to a Scottish secure tenancy in September 2002. To have been a secure tenant with a housing association your tenancy must have started before 1989.

Both landlords and tenants can apply to a rent officer to have a fair rent set, and you and your landlord can also apply jointly. If you are a joint tenant you can apply provided you have permission from the other joint tenants.

If you are a regulated tenant, your landlord can only increase your rent by registering the new amount as a fair rent.

When can I apply?

You can apply to have a fair rent registered at any time during your tenancy, providing a fair rent has not already been registered. If a fair rent has already been registered, you must wait three years before applying to have it changed and re-registered unless there has been a change in circumstances for example a change to the condition or size of the property (see 'how long will the new rent last' below).

How do I apply?

To apply for a fair rent registration, you'll need to fill in a form RR1, which you can get from your nearest rent registration service office or download from the Rent Registration Service website. There are three rent registration offices in Scotland - in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. You can find details of your nearest office on the Rent Registration Service website.

You'll need to include on the form:

• how much you want the rent to be
• what your accommodation is like (how many rooms, whether it has a garden, etc)
• what furniture is provided
• whether any services are included
• information about your tenancy agreement.

The rent officer will look at the information and then set a fair rent. If you request it, you can attend an informal consultation about the rent. You can ask an adviser or friend to represent you at the consultation if you wish.

How does the rent officer set a fair rent?

When setting a fair rent, the rent officer will look at:

• the age, character, locality and state of repair of the property
• the quantity, quality and condition of any furniture provided
• any service charges that are included
• any disrepair
• other factors, such as inadequate lighting and heating, poor natural light, nearby disruptive businesses, number of local amenities, heavy traffic, and the size of rooms.

Usually, the rent officer will look at fair rents which have been recently registered for similar properties. You can find out the level of rents registered by looking at the rent register, which is held in your local rent office and is also available online at the Rent Registration Service website.

What factors do not affect a fair rent?

When determining a fair rent, there are some things the rent officer has to ignore.

Scarcity

When determining a fair rent, the rent officer has to assume that the supply of rental properties in your area meets the demand. For example, if rents are high in your area because there is a shortage of rental property available, the rent officer must take this into account when setting a fair rent and make a deduction from the average market rent. For this reason, fair rents are generally lower than market rents.

Disrepair caused by the tenant

If your home is in a poor condition because you haven't been carrying out minor repairs as required by your tenancy agreement, the rent officer will not take the state of the property into account when calculating the rent.

Improvements carried out by the tenant

If you have carried out improvements to the property over and above the responsibilities outlined in your tenancy agreement, the rent officer will ignore these improvements.

Will the rent officer need to inspect my home?

Rent officers don't have to inspect your home before setting a fair rent, but they can do so if they wish. Rent officers should inspect a property with a registered rent every five years, unless you or your landlord specifically requests an inspection because the conditions of the premises have changed (see 'what if something changes' below).

Inspections can take place before or after a rent officer consultation. The landlord may be present at the inspection, but you can refuse permission for the landlord to be there if you wish.

What if I'm not happy with the rent set?

If either you or your landlord is unhappy with the rent officer's decision, you can write to the rent officer to object. The rent officer will then refer your appeal to the private rented housing panel (PRHP) for a rehearing. Find out more about how the PRHP works here.

Get advice from a Shelter advice centre or Citizens Advice before applying to the PRHP, as it could increase your rent as well as lower it. Use the Advice Services Directory to find help near you.

When will I start paying the new rent level?

Your new rent level will come into effect on the date the rent officer sets the registration. If the PRHP sets your rent level, it will start on the day the committee makes its decision.

How long will the new rent last?

Once a fair rent has been registered, it cannot generally be reconsidered for a period of three years. After the expiry of the three-year period, either you or your landlord can apply for a new fair rent to be registered. Usually it will be the landlord who applies to re-register the rent, because they want to increase it. The landlord can apply during the last three months of the three-year period, even though any increase will not be effective until that period has ended.

If you have a service charge included in your rent, for example, for stair cleaning or for lighting communal areas, your service charge may be increased every year so it might look as if your rent is increasing every year.

What if something changes?

Your or your landlord can apply to re-register the rent before the expiry of the three-year period if there is a change in circumstances. This could be because:

• the condition of the property has changed, for example, because improvements have been carried out
• the terms of your tenancy have changed
• the quantity, quality or condition of the furniture has changed
• any other circumstances considered when the rent was registered have changed.

What happens if my rent goes up?

If your landlord applies to register a new, higher rent, they must send you a notice of increase before it goes up. This must state:

• the amount of the increase
• the date from which it takes effect.

This date can be no earlier than the date the rent officer registered the new rent, and the notice can be sent to you no later than four weeks after this date.

If your landlord doesn't send you a notice of increase, you won't have to pay the increased amount of rent.

If your rent is increased by the rent officer and then increased again by the PRHP, your landlord will have to send you another notice of increase.

How much can my rent go up by?

If your rent is going up as the result of a new registration, there is a limit to how much the initial increase can be. For the first year following the registration, your rent can only be increased by the largest of the following amounts:

• a maximum of £104 a year, or
• one quarter of the previous rent limit, or
• one half of the difference between the previous rent limit and the amount of the registered rent.

After the year is up, you will have to pay the full amount of the new registered rent.