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Scotland

Types of regulated tenancy

There are two types of regulated tenancy: protected and statutory. The division is identical to the 'contractual'/'statutory' distinction of assured tenancies.

This content applies to Scotland

Protected tenancies

This refers to the initial agreement or contract drawn up between the landlord and tenant. Until the agreement is terminated, the tenant's right to occupy the property derives from the contract itself. In Scots law there is a doctrine called 'tacit relocation' which means that the contract or lease will automatically repeat unless one of the parties signals that they do not want this to happen. The lease will repeat (tacitly relocate) under exactly the same terms and conditions with one exception: the maximum length of time that a lease can repeat is one year. Therefore, as long as the tenancy keeps repeating itself, it will remain a protected tenancy.

Statutory tenancies

When the protected tenancy contract is brought to an end, the tenant nevertheless remains entitled to occupy the property. The tenant is only required to leave when the landlord gains a possession order. The right to occupy after the tenancy contract has been terminated comes from statute, and so the tenant is called a statutory tenant. [1] The particular statute that applies to regulated tenancies is the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984.

Last updated: 4 December 2017

Footnotes

  • [1]

    s.3 Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 as amended by s.46(1) Housing (Scotland) Act 1988