A good tenant is great – a bad one can be catastrophic to your success and financial and mental health.

The Scottish Government abolished the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) on the 1st December 2017. If you have an existing tenant on an AST, they were automatically moved onto a Private Housing Tenancy after this date.

Once you have a ‘problem tenant’ it can be extremely difficult to get your property back.

If you read nothing else on our site, you should definitely read the list below, and ask yourself, “do I really want to have a Private Housing Tenancy with a tenant?”

Before you read on, you should understand that our guests are not tenants, and therefore the list below does not apply to our agreement.

 

Tenants and the Private Housing Tenancy

 

Once a tenant has signed a Private Housing Tenancy, the tenancy is open-ended and will last until the tenant wishes to leave the let property, or the landlord uses one (or more) of 18 grounds for eviction.

The tenancy is open-ended, so the landlord can't just ask the tenant to leave because the tenant has been in the property for a set length of time.

The landlord can't increase the rent more than once a year, and the tenant must receive at least three months' notice of any increase.

If the landlord increases the rent, the tenant can refer the increase to a rent officer, who can decide if the increase is fair.

If the tenant has lived in the property for more than six months, landlords have to give 84 days' notice to leave (unless it's because the tenant has done something wrong).

If the tenant thinks they were misled into moving out, they can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a 'wrongful termination order'. If the Tribunal gives the order, it can award up to six months' rent to the tenant in compensation.

Local authorities can apply to Scottish Ministers to cap the levels of rent increases in areas where rents are rising too much.

 

Grounds for evicting a tenant

There are 18 different grounds (reasons) for eviction. If the landlord wants their tenant to leave the property, at least one of these grounds must apply.

If the tenant refuses to leave, the landlord can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an eviction order under these grounds.

Mandatory grounds

The first eight grounds for eviction are 'mandatory'. This means that if the Tribunal agrees that the ground exists, the tenant must leave the property.

The landlord intends to sell the let property

This ground applies if the landlord plans on putting the property up for sale within three months of the tenant moving out.

The landlord needs to provide evidence to prove it – this could include a letter from a solicitor or an estate agent or a recent home report for the property.

The let property is to be sold by the lender

This ground applies if the landlord's mortgage lender wants to repossess the property and sell it.

The landlord intends to refurbish the let property

This ground applies if the landlord wants to carry out major works to the let property that are so disruptive the tenant wouldn't be able to live there at the same time.

Examples of evidence could include planning permission or a contract between your landlord and an architect or a builder for the work to be carried out.

The landlord intends to live in the let property

This ground applies if the landlord wants the tenant to move out of the property so they can move in.

Evidence could include an affidavit (a written statement, signed under oath in the presence of a Notary Public or a Justice of the Peace, that can be used as evidence at the Tribunal) saying this is what they are going to do.

The landlord intends to use the let property for non-residential purpose

This ground applies if the landlord wants the tenant to move out so they can use the property for something other than a home.

Evidence could include planning permission that will let the landlord use the property for a different purpose.

Let property required for religious worker

This ground applies if the property is held to be available for someone who has a religious job (like a priest, nun, monk, imam, a lay missionary, minister, rabbi or something similar).

The ground only works if the property has been used for this purpose before.

The tenant has a relevant criminal conviction

This ground applies if the tenant is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment that involved the tenant either:

• using the property for illegal reasons
• letting someone use the property for illegal reasons
• committing a crime within or near the property

The landlord has to apply to the Tribunal within a year of the tenant being convicted unless the landlord has a reasonable excuse for not applying before then.

The tenant is no longer occupying the let property

This ground applies if the property isn't being used as the tenant's main or only home.

This doesn't count if the landlord failed their duty to keep the property in good repair and the tenant had to move out for their own safety.

Discretionary grounds

The next eight grounds for eviction are 'discretionary'. This means that even if the Tribunal agrees that the ground exists, it still has to decide whether it is reasonable to issue an eviction order.

The landlord's family member intends to live in the let property

This ground applies if a member of the landlord's family plans to move into the property as their only or main home for at least three months.

Members of the landlord's family who qualify for this are:

• their spouse
• their civil partner
• someone living with them as though they were married to them
• a parent or grandparent
• a child or grandchild
• a brother or sister
• step or half relatives (like a stepson or half-sister)
• a person being treated as someone's child even if they aren't related biologically or legally
• any family member (as listed above) of your landlord's spouse, civil partner or person living with them as though they were married
• the spouse or civil partner of any family members listed above, or someone living with them as though they were married

The landlord will need evidence for this ground. This could include an affidavit stating that this is what their family member intends to do.

Tenant no longer needs supported accommodation

This ground applies if the tenant moved into the property because they had a need for community care, and they've since been assessed as no longer having that need.

The tenant has breached a term of the tenancy agreement

This ground applies if the tenant hasn't complied with one of the terms of tenancy.

This doesn't apply to cases where the tenant hasn't paid the rent (known as 'rent arrears') – there's a separate ground for this.

The tenant has engaged in relevant antisocial behaviour

This ground applies if the tenant has behaved in an antisocial way to another person, by doing something which either:

• causes them alarm or distress
• is a nuisance or annoyance
• is considered harassment

The First-tier Tribunal will consider the behaviour, who it involved and where it occurred to decide whether to issue an eviction order.

To use this ground, the landlord has to apply to the Tribunal within a year of the behaviour taking place unless they have a reasonable excuse.

The tenant has associated in the let property with someone who has a criminal conviction or is antisocial

This ground applies if the tenant allows someone into the property and they behave in an antisocial way that would have them evicted if they were the tenant.

This person could be:

• a sub-tenant
• the tenant's lodger
• someone the tenant lets into the property on more than one occasion

To use this ground, the landlord has to apply to the Tribunal within a year of the conviction or behaviour taking place unless they have a reasonable excuse.

The landlord has had their registration refused or revoked

This ground applies if the landlord isn't registered as a landlord in the local council area where the property is located.

This could be because the local council has either:

• refused to enter the landlord in the register
• removed the landlord from the register

The Landlord's HMO licence has been revoked

This ground applies if the HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy) licence for the property has been removed, and keeping all the tenants in the property would no longer be legal.

An overcrowding statutory notice has been served on the landlord

This ground applies if an 'overcrowding statutory notice' has been served on the landlord because the property is overcrowded to the extent that it may affect the health of the people living there.

Grounds that could be mandatory or discretionary

The final two grounds can be either mandatory or discretionary, depending on the circumstances of the case.

The tenant is in rent arrears over three consecutive months

This ground applies if the tenant has been in 'rent arrears' (owed rent payments) for three or more months in a row.

If the tenant still owes at least a month's rent by the first day of the Tribunal hearing, the ground is mandatory, and the Tribunal must issue an eviction order. The Tribunal must also be satisfied that the arrears were not due to a delay or failure in the payment of a relevant benefit.

If the tenant owes less than a month's rent (or are no longer in arrears) by the first day of the Tribunal hearing, the ground is discretionary, and the Tribunal will decide whether it is reasonable to issue an eviction order. In deciding whether it is reasonable to evict, the Tribunal will consider whether the tenant being in arrears is due to a delay or failure in the payment of a relevant benefit.

The tenant has stopped being – or has failed to become – an employee

This ground applies if the landlord lets the tenant move in because they were their employee (or were going to be one), and now isn't.

The First-tier Tribunal will have to give an eviction order if either:

• the landlord applies within 12 months of the tenant no longer being an employee
• the tenant never became an employee, and the landlord applies within 12 months of the tenancy starting

The Tribunal will be able to decide whether to give an eviction order if:

• the landlord applies on or after the date 12 months after the tenant stopped being an employee
• the tenant never became an employee, but the landlord applies on or after the date 12 months after the tenancy started

Tenant’s protection from wrongful termination

If the tenancy has ended and the tenant thinks they were misled into leaving, the tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a 'wrongful termination order'.

The Tribunal may make a wrongful termination order if it decides that the landlord:

• misled the Tribunal into issuing an eviction order it shouldn't have
• wrongly made the tenant leave the property

If the landlord gets a wrongful termination order, the landlord will be told to pay the tenant compensation of up to six months' rent.