agreements

Short Assured Tenancy

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 either 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 the other housemates with the exception of communal areas..

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 the appropriate Notice to Quit and Notice of Proceedings have been served by the Landlord.