Rents for regulated tenancies

The initial agreement between a landlord and tenant is the contractual period of the tenancy, known as the protected tenancy

At the start of the contractual/protected stage of a regulated tenancy, if there is no fair rent already registered on the dwelling, the landlord and tenant are free to agree on any rent level. If there is an unconcealed rent registered on the property, the maximum rent recoverable is that of the registered rent unless the tenant holds a tenancy of premises different from the one previously registered with a fair rent. For example, the tenant may have a tenancy of additional or different rooms in the dwelling.

Once the contractual tenancy has come to an end or has been terminated, the tenancy becomes a statutory tenancy, being protected by the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984.

During the statutory tenancy the amount of rent recoverable from the tenant depends on the position at the date of the termination of the protected tenancy. If no fair rent was registered in the contractual period the rent recoverable is that recovered in the last contractual period. Where a fair rent was registered in the contractual period the registered rent is the maximum recoverable until there is a re-registration.

See the section on Fair rents for more information about challenging this.

Section 34 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 allows an alternative to rent registration as a way of fixing the rent of a regulated tenancy. Where there is no registered rent the landlord and tenant can enter a written rent agreement for a new rent. The agreement must be in writing and both landlord and tenant must sign it. There must be a statement at the head of the document clearly stating in unambiguous terms that the tenant is not obliged to enter into the agreement and that her/his security of tenure will not be affected if s/he does not do so. It must also state that the tenant can apply to have the rent registered at any time. [1]