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

Introduced as a direct response to the Cost of Living Crisis, The Act came into force on 28 October 2022, to protect tenants from the rising costs of rent, by restricting landlords ability to increase the rent on their property during existing tenancies, effectively implementing a rent freeze across the sector.

On 19th January 2023 the Scottish Government announced a welcome relaxation of the current PRS rent freeze restrictions, which will take effect from 1 April 2023.  From that date, landlords are permitted to increase the rent by up to 3% in their properties.  
This is an increase that can’t be disputed by a tenant (unless the increase is deemed to be above market rent) and can take effect following the appropriate notice period outlined in the lease agreement of 3 months.

Our proposal is that we start to apply this 3% increase across all tenancies that are 9+ months old and will start the process off by contacting tenants from 1st April 2023.


Can I increase the rent on my property by more than 3%?


Landlords can apply to the Rent Officer to increase the rent by more than the permitted 3% rate, to recover up to 50% of the increase in any prescribed property costs incurred by the landlord in the 6 months prior to the application being made. 
Prescribed property costs are:
• mortgage/standard security interest
• insurance premiums (not general buildings/contents insurance premiums)
• services charges paid by the landlord which the tenant is responsible for under the tenancy.


The landlord must issue the tenant with notice in writing advising they have applied to the rent officer for an increase - setting out what the proposed rent is and giving details of the prescribed property costs which have increased. 
If the rent officer is satisfied that the landlord’s prescribed property costs have increased within last 6 months and that the increase proposed by the landlord represents no more than 50% of those costs the rent officer must order a rent increase.
At this stage we can’t confirm how long this process will take through the Rental Officer and may lead to delays in getting an uplift in your rental income.  If you have evidence to support an increase of up to 6% of the rent and wish us to apply for an increase above the proposed 3%, please contact us to discuss.


What if I do not want to increase the rent on my property?

You do not have to increase the rent on your property if you are happy at the current level, please just get in contact with us, if you have not already done so, to advise that you wish the rent to remain the same.
For full government guidance on the current rent freeze and upcoming rent cap, please visit:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/cost-of-living-rent-and-eviction/pages/rent-cap/

If you'd like to discuss what the rent freeze means for you, please get in touch with us at newbusiness@djalexander.co.uk

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