Wrongmove? Private landlords may have to accept reduced eviction options

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 has been gradually coming into force since it received Royal Assent in November last year.

The provisions that have received the most attention are those that permit the Scottish Government to designate certain parts of the country as ‘Rent Control Areas’, within which landlords have limited ability to increase rents. Local authorities are now obliged to assess rent conditions in their areas and report regularly to the government. The first such report is due no later than 1 May 2027.

However, another provision that has been less publicised could be just as consequential: Section 51 of the Act permits the government to introduce regulations which would convert existing assured tenancies into private residential tenancies (or PRTs). Many landlords might feel that such a change would be unfavourable to them.

First, some background. There are a number of different forms of residential tenancy in Scotland, each of which has its own specific rules. ‘‘Assured tenancies’, which were governed by the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, were the norm until PRTs were introduced by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016.

Historically, the introduction of a new form of tenancy did not automatically convert pre-existing tenancies of the prior form. The coexistence of various forms of residential tenancies creates legal complexities, as it can be difficult to determine the form of a given tenancy and to reconcile overlapping legislation. But there is also a significant benefit: when two parties sign a tenancy agreement, they could reasonably have expected that it would continue to be subject to the same basic legislative framework throughout its existence. It is an abiding principle of statutory interpretation that legislation is not intended to be retrospective unless this is explicitly stated. Retrospectivity is the exception, not the rule.

The fact that the new Act gives the government the power to automatically convert existing assured tenancies into PRTs is therefore a significant change of approach.

What this means in practice for landlords and tenants

Converting an assured tenancy into a PRT would have meaningful effects on both landlords and tenants, as the two forms have significant differences.

Perhaps the most important difference is in the landlord’s ability to terminate the tenancy. If, for example, an assured tenancy is a ‘short assured tenancy’, the landlord can terminate it at the end of its current term by serving a Notice to Quit on the tenant. By contrast, PRTs do not have a fixed term and cannot be terminated in this way.

In both cases, the landlord will require an order from the First Tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) before the tenant can be lawfully evicted and will have to demonstrate to the Tribunal that eviction is reasonable in all of the circumstances.

With a PRT however, the landlord will also have to establish that one of the 18 specific grounds for eviction which are set out in the 2016 Act have been met. With a short assured tenancy, a landlord does not face the additional hurdle of demonstrating an applicable statutory ground for eviction.

Clearly, then, if the government exercises its power to convert all assured tenancies into PRTs, those landlords will see their options significantly reduced while tenants will benefit from an additional layer of protection.

Will the government decide to do this and, if so, when? At the moment, we cannot say. But the Shepherd and Wedderburn Property Disputes Team will be keeping a very close eye on the situation, and landlords using assured tenancies would be wise to do the same.

If you have any questions about this subject or any related issue, don’t hesitate to contact a member of the team.

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