End to rent adjudication measures in Scotland

Countryside

Letting agents across Scotland will welcome the news that the temporary rent adjudication measures end on 31 March 2025.

The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, which temporarily protected tenants by controlling rent, limiting evictions, and setting up rent review measures, ended on 31 March 2024. However, some of these measures were extended under the Rent Adjudication (Temporary Modifications) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 which restricted rent increases.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that Scotland’s annual inflation rate hit a record-high annual rise of 11.7% in August 2023, which has been reflected in rising rents for new lets, pushing up costs for new or moving tenants.

From 1 April 2025, if a tenancy started on or after 1 December 2017, rent increases will only be approved once in 12 months, and landlords must use the prescribed form and provide three months’ notice.

A tenant will have 21 days of receiving the notice if they believe the proposed rent is too high, they can then apply to Rent Service Scotland who will decide the amount of rent the tenant must pay based on an assessment of the ‘open market’ rent, which could be lower or higher than the increase requested by the landlord.

Either tenant or landlord has a right of appeal within 14 days of receiving the Rent Service Scotland notification which would return to a rent officer who would make a ‘final order’ decision and finally an appeal can be made to the First Tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) within 14 days of the final order.

Commenting, Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, said:

“Letting agents and their landlords across Scotland will welcome the end of the rent adjudication measures implemented by the Scottish Government. Importantly, there will be no immediate replacement for temporary rent controls, and it will be back to standard rules for rent adjudication from 1 April 2025. Restrictive measures on rent control have caused rents to rise and stalled investment across Scotland. It’s now vital that policy makers learn the lessons and do not repeat the mistakes of restricting rents that put up costs for tenants over the long run.” 

EAN Breaking News

Breaking News from the team at Estate Agent Networking. Have a new story to share with us? Then please get in contact today! When and where we can we will refer to third party websites with a 'live link back' where news was released first.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Energy Rules Without Power: Tenants and Landlords Both Question EPC Impact

New research from LRG reveals that both landlords and tenants are struggling to engage with the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) system, raising serious questions about whether it can deliver on its intended goals ahead of the government’s 2030 targets. While landlords overwhelmingly support the principle of improving energy efficiency, confidence in the system designed to…
Read More
New Builds 2020
Breaking News

New Build Home Enquiries Double in Summer 2025 

From June to August 2025, Compare My Move’s conveyancing data shows a 120% increase in new build home purchase enquiries compared to the same period in 2024.  This surge reflects not only more people looking to buy homes overall but also a higher share of buyers choosing new builds. On average, 12% of purchase enquiries in…
Read More
Breaking News

Residential Performance Dives, Dragging Entire Sector Down

Glenigan Review sees UK construction recovery put on pause as private housebuilding activity plummets Project starts decline by 22% during the Review period, 36% down compared to 2024 levels Main contract awards value slashed by 33% year-on-year, representing a 24% decrease relative to the prior three-month period Planning approvals nosedived 48% against the previous three…
Read More
Letting Agent Talk

80% of maintenance calls happen out-of-hours

60% of landlords do not have out-of-hours management cover, despite 80% of maintenance calls coming out-of-hours The latest research by Adiuvo reveals the UK’s leading provider of 24/7 property management solutions, reveals that almost 60% of UK landlords do not have out-of-hours cover in place for maintenance, management, or emergencies. Adiuvo’s surveyed UK landlords* to…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Majority of agents don’t believe portal price hikes are justified with added value

New research from The Property DriveBuy reveals that the majority of UK estate agents think that the price hikes implemented by property portals such as Rightmove in recent years are unreasonably high, with most also believing they are unjustified when it comes to the value these portals have added to their proposition. The survey of…
Read More
Breaking News

Biggest property put-offs revealed by homebuyers

Biggest property put-offs could see homebuyers offer £40k less or more – From flying flags to aggressive dog breeds The latest research from Springbok Properties has revealed the biggest property put-offs that could see buyers offer as much as £40,000 less, if not more, leaving many sellers struggling to achieve their asking price in the…
Read More