Rent cap: private landlord guidance

These measures are coming to an end on 31 March 2024. Regulations to protect tenants concerned about rent increases have been laid in the Scottish Parliament.


Application to the Rent Officer for a rent increase - for certain costs

The Scottish Government recognises that the impacts of the cost crisis may also be felt by some landlords, as well as tenants.

For this reason, a landlord can apply to the Rent Officer (part of Rent Service Scotland) to increase the rent for a property, in order to partially take account of any increase during the preceding six months in prescribed property costs.

In respect of an existing tenancy, the rent may be increased no more than once in a 12 month period. Landlords will be asked to confirm when the let property last had a rent increase when applying to a Rent Officer for a rent increase in relation to certain prescribed property costs.

Any application to increase rent will be limited to a landlord’s 'prescribed property costs' as detailed in The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022. For ease of reference, the relevant provision is provided below. Any application made on the basis of any other costs will not be accepted.

'prescribed property costs', in relation to a landlord, are —

(a) interest payable in respect of a mortgage or standard security relating to the let property,

(b) a premium payable in respect of insurance (other than general building and contents insurance) relating to the let property and the offering of the property for let,

c) service charges relating to the let property that are paid for by the landlord but the payment of which the tenant is responsible for (in whole or in part) in accordance with the terms of the tenancy.

 Prescribed property costs in more detail

Prescribed property costs are specified types of costs related to the let property that occurred in the six months before the date of application to a Rent Officer. It is important to note that the prescribed costs relate to an increase in those costs only, and not the whole cost the landlord pays. Additionally, any increase which occurred more than 6 months before the application is made will not be considered.

Only 50% of the increase in prescribed property costs in the preceding six months can be applied for, and the overall increase in rent is limited to a maximum of 6% of the existing rent payable under the tenancy. This means that the allowable rent increase will be the lower of 50% of the increase in prescribed costs or 6% of the existing rent. 

Interest payable in respect of a mortgage or standard security relating to the let property

  • This means only an increase in the interest element payable in respect of the mortgage would be considered. The mortgage must be for the let property that the application relates to.

Possible scenarios(for illustrative purposes)

  • A variable interest rate mortgage, where the lender increases the mortgage rate; or
  • Where an existing fixed rate mortgage period has come to an end and the mortgage moves to a variable rate of interest.

Evidence you will need to provide to a Rent Officer: letter(s) or notifications from your lender, detailing the new interest rate and the associated increase in the monthly repayment amount, clearly indicating when this came into effect. The landlord will also need to demonstrate what the previous rate was – this may be in a different letter or notification from your lender. This is required, so that the increase can be calculated. If the increased costs are not evidenced, then the application could be rejected.

A premium payable for insurance (except general building and contents insurance):

  • to be clear building and contents insurance cannot be considered as part of the “prescribed property costs”, as these costs relate to the protection of the property.
  • Landlord insurance will depend on the specific policy the landlord has purchased from their provider, and can include, for example:
      • Cover which provides for ‘loss of rent’
      • liability insurance to cover the landlord
      • unoccupied property cover

For avoidance of doubt, any building or contents cover elements should be excluded from any application made in connection with landlord insurance.

Evidence you will need to provide to a Rent Officer: where a landlord has more than one property in the same contract (ie. multi-property cover), the landlord can:

  • Provide the schedule that the property relates to, or
  • where the let properties are not itemised separately, divide the cost of the insurance cover by the number of properties the contract relates to.

You should supply letter(s) or notifications from your provider, detailing the new premium payable, clearly indicating when this came into effect. The landlord will also need to demonstrate what the previous premium was – this may be in a different letter or notification from your provider. This is required, so that the increase can be calculated.

Service charges that relate to the let property, that are paid for by the landlord but that the tenant is wholly or partly responsible as specified in the tenancy agreement.  Please also see ‘Treatment of Factoring Fees’ below.

Examples may include, but not limited to:

  • the cleaning of communal areas such as landings, windows and stairs.
  • lighting in communal areas, such as stairwell lighting
  • utilities relating to communal services, such as communal door entry systems
  • service charges relating to lifts or bin chutes
  • grounds maintenance
  • maintaining heating systems, eg. servicing of communal septic tanks (in off-grid areas)
  • concierge services

For avoidance of doubt, only an increase in service charges for which the tenant is wholly or partly responsible for as set out in their tenancy agreement, but the landlord pays directly, are applicable.

Evidence you will need to provide to a Rent Officer: where a landlord has more than one property in the same contract (ie. multi-property cover), for service charges, this must relate to the let property, and be paid for by the landlord but the payment of which the tenant is responsible for (in whole or in part) in accordance with the terms of the tenancy, the landlord can:

  • Provide the schedule that the property relates to, or
  • Where the let properties are not itemised separately, divide the cover by the number of properties the contact relates to.

You should supply letter(s) or notifications from your provider, detailing the new amount payable, clearly indicating when this came into effect. The landlord will also need to demonstrate what the previous amount was – this may be in a different letter or notification from your provider. This is required, so that the increase can be calculated.

For a rent increase on the basis of service charges to be considered, the landlord must clearly demonstrate that any claim relating to the charge is specified in the tenancy agreement.  It would be helpful to highlight this in the application to Rent Officer.

Treatment of factoring fees

Where a landlord is applying for an increase on the basis of a service charge included as part of the factoring fees paid directly by a landlord in relation to the property, the fee charge must:

  • relate specifically to the let property; and
  • be a charge that the tenant is wholly or partly responsible for as specifically set out in their tenancy agreement.
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