Landlord and Tenant

Question 1

What is the process for issuing a PRT tenant with a notice to leave?

Answer 1

Notice to leave prepared using the Scottish Governments notice generating system. Must be served either 28 days or 84 days depending on the length of the tenancy. I issued the notice in person so did not need to have the 2 day delay for postage

Question 1

What rights to compensation does a tenant under a 1991 act lease hold?

Answer 1

The tenant can claim compensation for improvements under schedules 3, 4 and 5 of the 1991 act. These include improvements for which notice is required, for which consent is required and for which no consent or notice is required.

Question 2

You conducted an agricultural rent review on a 91 Act. What must be included in the notice and how should it be served?

Answer 2

Tenant name, holding name, landlord name, rent proposed and the rent review date. Good practice to include the TFC guide to rent reviews. Should be delivered via recorded delivery.

Question 3

What are the TFC recommendations for conducting rent reviews and what are the timescales?

Answer 3

Serve notice (no less than 1 year or more than 2 in advance) and meet tenant at least 6 months before. If not agreeable, the landlord has 4 weeks to provide justification. If tenant disagree, has 4 weeks to respond with counter proposal. The parties should meet again no more than 6 weeks later to discuss.

Question 4

What are the key aspects of a grazing agreement? How are responsibilities split?

Answer 4

Grazing agreements are used for letting mowing or grazing for a specified period of the year. They cannot be issued for longer than 364 days. The grazier is responsible for herding the livestock or mowing, for maintaining the fencing, gates, walls and ditches as at the standard at date of entry, the right to fertilise as requirement. The farmer reserves the right of access.

Question 5

What is the current rent per acre for grazing land in your area?

Answer 5

Between £60-80 per acre.

Question 6

You have issued a rent review for regulated tenancies. Talk me through this. What is an RR1 form?

Answer 6

Rent reviews on regulated tenancies can be conducted every 3 years and the rent proposal must be submitted to the Rent Officer using an RR1 form. This form requires details about the lease, tenant, any upgrades made to the property which might be considered when setting the rent level. As the review was done during the pandemic, the rent officer did not visit but generally does to check the condition of the property.

Question 7

Explain a regulated tenancy.

Answer 7

Regulated tenancies are characterised by two key features:

They provide very strong security of tenure, giving the tenants the right to live in their homes until the landlord obtains a possession order.

Rents are controlled by the fair rents scheme, which enables the imposition of a maximum rent amount by the rent officer.

Question 8

What properties cannot be let on a PRT?

Answer 8

A PRT is a leasing vehicle for residential properties. Commercial and agricultural properties cannot be let using a PRT.

Question 9

Why were PRTs brought in?

Answer 9

They were brought in the replace assured and short assured tenancies. The goal was to provide security, stability and predictability for tenants and safeguards for landlords, lenders and investors.

Question 10

What are the standard HOTs in a commercial lease?

Answer 10

Parties, rent, subjects, term, landlord and tenant repairing obligations.

Question 11

Why is a grazing agreement not appropriate for horse grazing?

Answer 11

Suitable for shorter term lets which often horses dont adhere to, the seasonal grazing agreements dont usually tailor to specific needs of horses

Question 12

What is the purpose of a stock off letter and what are the consequences if there is not one signed off?

Answer 12

So that the grazing agreement does not convert to an SLDT

Question 13

What are the repairing responsibilities of a tenant and landlord of a 91 Act tenancy?

Answer 13

Landlord replace and tenant maintain and repair

Question 14

What was the purpose of the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 2022?

Answer 14

Protecting residential tenants from increases in rent; protecting residential tenants from eviction; and for connected purposes.

Question 15

What superseded the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 2022?

Answer 15

Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 2023 which introduced a 3%

Question 16

What is the difference between a tenant’s improvement and a tenant’s fixture?

Answer 16

Tenant improvement is funded by the tenant and adds value to the holding a tenants fixture is a tenant item which doesnt necessarily add value to the holding and can be requested to be removed at the end of the tenancy

Question 17

What are the three forms of improvement in a 1991 Act and what notice of provisions are required?

Question 18

How would you prepare a schedule of dilapidations and what factors would you look for?

Question 19

What section of the Agricultural Holding (Scotland) Act 1991 refers to fixed equipment?

Answer 19

Section 5

Question 20

What section of the Agricultural Holding (Scotland) Act 1991 refers to rent review?

Answer 20

Section 13

Question 21

What did the 2003 Agricultural Holding (Scotland) Act introduce to farms with tenancy?

Answer 21

SLDT and LDT

Question 22

What is a limited partnership tenancy?

Question 23

What is tacit relocation?

Answer 23

Rolling term of a lease

Question 24

What are the differences between expert and arbiter?

Question 25

You mention that you advised a landlord on their repairing obligations of a farmhouse what were the next steps you suggested?

Answer 25

The farmhouse had a leak coming from the roof. Identified on inspection with myself and a building surveyor that a section of roof required replacing. As per the maintenance obligations of a 91 Act the tenant is required to replace I then made the landlord aware via email and followed up by a meeting at the farmhouse.

Question 26

What is the process of carrying out a rent review of a regulated tenancy?

Answer 26

Going to the Scottish Government website and filling out a RR1 form. Included in a RR1 form is address of the property, number of tenants, tenants name, current rent, new rent, previous registration and registration number

Question 27

You mention you issued a residential notice to leave what was the notice you issued?

Answer 27

I issued a notice to leave on the grounds that the landlord wished to sell the property. The tenant had lived in the property for over 6 months so was given a 12 week notice. I issued the notice via a letter and delivered it in person to discuss options with the tenant. Included in the notice was the grounds for eviction and the date when their notice period ended.

Question 28

If a tenant does not leave by the date of the eviction notice what is the process?

Answer 28

If you have not moved out by the date on your eviction notice, your landlord can apply for an eviction order from the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber).

The tribunal must consider whether it’s reasonable to evict you.

A landlord cannot force you to leave without getting an eviction order from the tribunal.

Question 29

You carried out residential rent reviews to a 6% increase across the board, if you had wished to increase the rents by 8%, what would this process look like? Does the tenant have a course to refuse?

Answer 29

At present we are governed by the Cost of Living (Scotland) Act 2023 which caps rent increases by 6% however landlord’s can apply for an additional 6%.

You can only apply for the further 2% if as a landlord you had evidence to suggest that your lettable property is 8% below the market rent value in that location then you can increase to 8% uplift. If the tenant were to dispute this then the rent increase would be subject to the taper approach if the proposed rent increase is above 6% of overall rent.

Any tenant who wishes to dispute a rent increase they can raise it with their landlord or agent and apply to a rent officer at Rent Service Scotland, or to the First-tier Tribunal if applicable, for a rent adjudication.

Question 30

Are SATs subject to the same rent cap?

Answer 30

No they are not they increases are subject to what is written within the rent review clause within the lease (often this is RPI)

Question 31

You say you have served Section 13 notices, can you tell me everything you need to include in this notice for it to be valid?

Answer 31

The holding name
Tenants
Date
When the reviewed rent will take affect
TFF Guidance notes on good practice when conducting rent review

Question 32

What are the timescales for a 1991 act review

Answer 32

Notices must be served no less than a year no more than two years
You then must arrange a meeting at least six months prior to the rent review date to discuss
4 weeks following to put forward a proposal
6 weeks to counter proposal from tenants

Question 33

You served the tenant with a notice to quit, was this during the eviction moratorium? How did this differ from pre-covid procedure?

Answer 33

No this was not
If I had to serve notice during the eviction moratorium then I would still be able to serve the notice to quit to the tenant however I would need to issue a valid eviction notice and get an eviction order from the court or tribunal

Question 34

If the property which you wanted to serve notice to quit was an SAT do you know what notice you would need to give?

Answer 34

Must give notice to quit at the end of the tenancy and notice in writing that you want the property back - a section 33 notice. If you require to go legal, you must serve an AT6. Notice periods vary based on eviction grounds.

Question 35

If the tenant had not left the property after the notice period what would be your next course of action?

Answer 35

If they have not left the property within the notice period ~(28 days or 84 days) then the landlord can apply for an eviction order from the first-tier tribunal.