Private tenants - advice and support

Our leaflet for tenants in the private rented sector (PDF 273KB) explains your rights and responsibilities as a tenant renting from a private landlord.

Find out about RAAC in private housing.

Getting a tenancy

Information for tenants about your landlord's legal obligations for renting out private property.

Tenancy agreement - if issued prior to 1 December 2017

You are likely to have an assured or short assured tenancy agreement. This agreement will continue on the existing terms until it comes to an end.

Private Residential Tenancy - comes into force on 1 December 2017

Any tenancy starting from 1 December 2017 onwards will be a new Private Residential Tenancy. It will no longer be possible to create an assured or short assured tenancy from 1 December 2017 onwards. To find out more view the private residential tenancies guide.

Tenancy Deposit Scheme

The Tenancy Deposit scheme protects tenants' deposits until they are due to be repaid. The scheme is provided by an independent third party.

For more information about this scheme, read our tenancy deposit scheme guide (PDF 30KB).

Illegal premiums

Your landlord can legally only charge you rent and a refundable deposit. They can't charge you for reference checks, credit checks and inventory fees.

Tenant Information Pack

If you are a new tenant and have an assured, or short assured, tenancy your private landlord has a legal duty to provide you with a Tenant Information Pack.

The pack includes information on tenancy agreements, property condition and your rights and responsibilities as a tenant and the rights and responsibilities of your landlord.

During the tenancy

Repairing standard

Landlords have a legal responsibility to make sure the property they rent to you meets a minimum standard of repair for private rented properties - known as the Repairing Standard. 

View the damp, condensation and mould (DCM) guide (PDF 395KB), to find what to do if you have DCM in your home. We promise to take quick and effective action to deal with damp, condensation, and mould (DCM) issues in private sector tenants’ homes.

Instead of blaming DCM on lifestyle, we work with private landlords, private tenants, and others to build trust, provide education, and encourage understanding of the issues.

We will help private renters to get the right advice and support. If there are DCM problems with the place they are renting, we will ask landlords to investigate and fix any issues.

We will make a third-party referral to The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) if a landlord fails to resolve any issues within a reasonable timeframe.

Ending the tenancy

Information on how to leave a property you have been renting is available in the mygovscot guide to ending a tenancy as a tenant. 

For more information, or if you have any questions, please call us on 01467 534853 or email landlordregistration@aberdeenshire.gov.uk.