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Tenancy Agreements
(Scotland)
The most likely agreement that you will sign with your
tenant is a Short Assured Tenancy .
This agreement allows the tenant to rent a property
from you in exchange for a market rent. These can be
made for a specific period of time, for instance, one
academic year, but in Scotland they cannot be made for
a period less than 6 months.
Joint/ Separate Tenancy Agreements - If there
are students sharing a house then you may ask them to
sign a joint tenancy or a separate tenancy. If they
sign a joint tenancy then they will all be responsible
for each other's debts and damages. If they each have
their own contract then if there are any discrepancies,
the argument is between yourself and the tenant and
should not involve their housemates.
The Short Assured Tenancy rules do not apply in the
event of resident landlords. Therefore, in the case
of owner-occupiers, individual lease arrangements could
be the practical solution. This allows the owner to
take advantage of the rent-a-room provisions. While
there may be tax advantages to this approach, upkeep
of communal areas could be open to neglect. It is imperative
in these circumstances to vet flatmates, collect parental
guarantees and check references if the other tenants
are unknown on moving in.
Short Assured Tenancy: Notice
Requiring Possession
A landlord can only bring a Short Assured tenancy in
Scotland to an end unilaterally by serving the appropriate
notices on the tenant (namely a Notice to Quit and a
Notice of Proceedings). This even applies to tenancy
agreements for a fixed period of time which will simply
continue as weekly or monthly Short Assured tenancies
after the fixed period unless and will be renewed for
the original period, up to year in Scotland unless the
appropriate Notice to Quit and Notice of Proceedings
have been served by the Landlord.
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