Succession and liability for arrears

A landlord is unlikely to be successful in recovering possession for rent arrears accrued by a prior tenant, as the relevant ground is 'rent lawfully due from the tenant'. This is because the successor is not the same person and was not the tenant when the arrears were accrued. However the landlord may try to claim that there is a breach of a term of tenancy.

The guidance published to coincide with the creation of the Scottish secure tenancy states that, when a successor is identified and agreed, a new Scottish secure tenancy in her/his name will be offered and this will be backdated to the day after the tenant's death. The successor will be responsible for the rent from that date. [1]