If you let a property in Scotland under a Private Residential Tenancy (PRT), your tenant has the right to challenge any rent increase you propose through a process called rent adjudication. Understanding how this process works is useful when considering what rent to propose and what to expect if a challenge is made.
Private Residential Tenancies
Private Residential Tenancies were introduced across Scotland from 1 December 2017 by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016. Most people renting from a private landlord in Scotland will have a PRT, while some will have older forms of tenancy. The 2016 Act gave tenants of PRTs certain protections, including important rights in relation to rent increases.
How rent increases work
Under the 2016 Act, a landlord can only increase the rent under a PRT once in any 12-month period. To do so, the landlord must give the tenant at least three months' written notice using a prescribed rent-increase notice form. There is no restriction on the amount a landlord can propose as an increase. However, if a tenant considers the proposed new rent to be too high, they have the right to challenge this independently.
Adjudication — what happens if the proposed increase is challenged
If you serve a rent increase notice, your tenant currently has 21 days to refer it to Rent Service Scotland (RSS), an executive agency of the Scottish Government, for adjudication. This period will increase to 30 days from 1 April 2027. The process is free for the tenant to use.
RSS will appoint an independent Rent Officer to carry out an adjudication. The Rent Officer will assess the open market rent for the property — the rent that a landlord might reasonably expect to obtain on the open market, taking into account the size, type, condition and location of the property, and rents being achieved for similar properties in the area.
Under the current standard process, the rent may be set at a figure that is the same as, lower than, or higher than what you proposed, depending on the open market evidence. If either party disagrees with the Rent Officer's decision, they can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). Once set, the adjudicated rent cannot be increased again for 12 months.
Temporary modifications — April 2024 to March 2025
Between October 2022 and March 2024, statutory cost of living measures restricted rent increases for existing tenants. When these measures expired, the Scottish Government introduced temporary modifications to the standard adjudication process which applied to all referrals made to RSS between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
During this temporary period, rents were set at the lowest of three figures:
- the open market rent for the property;
- the rent proposed by the landlord; and
- a figure calculated using a taper formula that limited increases where the gap between the current rent and open market rent was above 6%, capping the maximum allowable increase at 12% in all cases where that gap reached 24% or more.
This temporary regime therefore gave tenants two protections on top of the standard process: their rent could not be set above the proposed rent (the standard process does not preclude this), and the taper formula could further limit increases where the gap between current and market rent was particularly large.
The current position — from 1 April 2025
From 1 April 2025, the standard adjudication process under the 2016 Act resumed — the Rent Officer's determination may be the same as, lower than, or (at present) higher than the proposed rent, and either party may appeal to the Tribunal. Since the standard process resumed, in around 19% of cases the Rent Officer has set the rent above what the landlord proposed, where open market evidence supported a higher figure.
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 was passed on 6 November 2025 and makes a number of changes. From 1 April 2027, Rent Officers and the Tribunal will no longer be permitted to set a rent higher than the landlord's proposed figure on a rent increase notice. From the same date, the period for a tenant to refer a rent increase to RSS will increase from 21 to 30 days. A separate provision preventing landlords from serving rent increase notices within the first 12 months of a tenancy has not yet been given a commencement date.
Rent Control Areas
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 also introduces a permanent framework for Rent Control Areas (RCAs). The governance structure enabling local authorities and Scottish Ministers to designate RCAs came into force on 1 April 2026. Within a designated RCA, annual rent increases for both existing and new tenants would be capped at CPI plus 1%, with a maximum of 6%. No RCAs have yet been designated. Local authorities are required to carry out rent condition assessments and submit reports to the Scottish Government by 31 May 2027, meaning no operational RCA is likely before late 2027 at the earliest. “Build-to-rent”, “mid-market rent”, and purpose-built student housing are exempt from RCA controls.
What this means for landlords
The rent adjudication process provides tenants with an independent check on the level of rent proposed. Under the current standard process, the outcome may be higher than, equal to, or lower than the proposed rent, depending on the open market evidence.
Data on adjudication outcomes shows that proposed increases which are well-evidenced and proportionate to market levels are more likely to be upheld, while very large increases are reliably reduced.
This article is intended to provide general information about the adjudication process. If you require further information or advice in connection with a rent increase or other residential tenancy matter, please get in touch with your usual Brodies contact or one of our rural lawyers.
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