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Thinking of letting out your property? Your Move can guide you through the process.
When it comes to renting your property out in Scotland, it’s important that you are aware of every step of the process so you don’t end up with any nasty surprises.
There are many responsibilities that landlords need to be up-to-date with, especially when it comes to laws and regulations.
Before we go through the step by step process of letting in Scotland, we must first mention the private residential tenancy.
The private residential tenancy is a new type of tenancy which came into force in December 2017 to replace the assured and short tenancy. This change was to tackle improvements in the private rented sector.
Find out about the key changes that have been made for a private residential tenancy.
As soon as you decide you want to start letting your property to potential tenants, you will need to register with the local council in the area where the property is based. You can find out more about how to do this on the gov.scot website.
Whether you are letting through an agent or managing your lettings privately, you still have legal responsibilities as a landlord. When letting in Scotland, there are a number of legal responsibilities landlords should fulfil.
Should you decide to go with a letting agent to manage your letting, they will be able to advise and support with all of the above.
If you're renting out a property, as the landlord you're responsible for carrying out some repairs. It's your duty to make sure the property meets the repairing standard. This is a basic level of repair that all private rented properties must meet.
The following are required to make sure your rental property meets the repairing standard:
Other requirements that will also need attention in rental properties from a fire safety perspective (including single and multiple occupants):
Find out more about the requirements for fire and smoke alarms in Scottish homes.
Before you can begin marketing your property for potential tenants, we recommend preparing the paperwork you will need depending on tenancy type.
If you tenant rented your property on or after the private residential tenancy changes on 1st December 2017, you must have a tenancy agreement or written tenancy terms which support this, as these tenants will have a private residential tenancy.
You will also need to provide the tenant either an ‘Easy Read Notes for the Scottish Government Model Tenancy Agreement’ or the ‘Private Residential Tenancy Statutory Terms Supporting Notes’.
These will help the tenant understand their rights and responsibilities before beginning their tenancy. The notes you give will depend on tenancy type.
For those who rented your property before 1st December 2017, the documents you will need are a Tenant Information Pack and a tenancy agreement.
Before you begin advertising your rentals to potential tenants, you will need to have a number of checks on the condition of the property. With this in mind, here are a few of the more important checks:
You can then start advertising your property! If this is with a letting agent they will most likely handle everything for you. If you are advertising yourself, make sure to provide your landlord registration number and Energy Performance Certificate.
Once you have found a tenant for your property it is now time for the final paperwork and deposit. You will need to provide your tenant with the following:
Before the tenant moves in, you must arrange the deposit and first rent payment. The deposit must be registered with a third party tenancy deposit scheme such as, Letting Protection Service Scotland, Safe Deposits Scotland or My Deposits Scotland. You must inform the tenant which deposit scheme you choose to use.
Once the paperwork and deposit is finalised, you will need to give the local council your tenant’s details and moving in date.
On the day of the move, make sure you take some final steps:
Find out how much rental income you could earn from letting out your property.