Eviction Rights in Scotland: What to Do If You Get a Notice

Who this guide is for

People who rent their home in Scotland, from a private landlord, a council or a housing association, or who rent a room in their landlord's home, and who are being evicted or pushed out. It covers:

• Eviction notices: which notice applies, how much notice is needed, and when a notice is not valid.
• What happens when a notice runs out: the First-tier Tribunal, the sheriff court, sheriff officers, and your options.
• Illegal eviction and harassment: lock-outs, belongings, cut-off gas, electricity or water, and what to do the same day.
• Rent arrears and a landlord selling as reasons for eviction, and rent increases.
• Deposits, and being misled into leaving.
• People who rent a room in their landlord's home.
• Council help if you are homeless or about to be.

What this guide does not cover

• Homes in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. The law is different there, so this guide does not cover them.
• Landlords asking about their own duties or how to evict a tenant: use the landlord checker.
• Complaints about how a council or housing association has treated you: use the Housing Ombudsman checker.
• Problems with neighbours: use the neighbour disputes checker.
• Taking a landlord to court for money, such as getting a deposit back: use the small claims checker.
• Benefits to help pay rent, such as Universal Credit housing costs or Housing Benefit: use the benefits checker.
• Debts other than rent owed to your landlord: use the debt checker.
• Homeowners whose own mortgage lender is repossessing their home, older tenancy types (regulated tenancies, assured and short assured tenancies), and immigration or right to rent questions. UK Work Rights does not give immigration guidance.

The questions that decide the answer

If you have not said one of these, the answer says what it depends on. It does not assume.

• Who the landlord is: a private landlord, a council or housing association, or someone who lives in the same home.
• What notice was given (a notice to leave, or a notice of proceedings from a council or housing association), on what date, how it was sent, and what grounds it names.
• When you moved in, and how long you had lived there when you got the notice.
• Whether the Tribunal or the sheriff court has made an order yet.

Renting privately in Scotland: the basics

• If you rent from a private landlord and moved in on or after 1 December 2017, you normally have a private residential tenancy. It has no end date. Section 21 and Section 8 notices are not used in Scotland.

"My landlord has given me a notice to leave"

• To end the tenancy, the landlord must give you a notice to leave, in writing, naming one or more of the 18 eviction grounds.
• The notice period is 28 days if you had lived there for 6 months or less when you got the notice. It is also 28 days if the only grounds are about you: not living there, breaking the tenancy, being in rent arrears for 3 or more months in a row, a relevant conviction, antisocial behaviour, or associating with someone who has a relevant conviction or has behaved antisocially. Otherwise it is 84 days. If grounds with different periods are used, the longer period applies.
• A landlord who sends a notice by post or email must add 2 days to the notice period.

"I'm behind with the rent"

• The rent arrears ground needs you to have been in arrears for 3 or more months in a row when the landlord applies to the Tribunal.

"My landlord says they are selling"

• The selling ground can only be used if the landlord intends to put the home up for sale within 3 months of you leaving.

"My notice has run out" or "I've got Tribunal papers"

• You do not have to leave when the notice ends. The landlord must tell the council and then apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) for an eviction order, within 6 months after the notice period ends.
• For every ground, the Tribunal must decide both that the ground applies and that it is reasonable to evict you. There are no grounds where eviction is automatic.
• Your landlord cannot make you leave without an eviction order. Only sheriff officers can carry it out.
• The checker cannot predict whether the Tribunal or the sheriff court will make an order in your case.
• The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 also creates a Tribunal duty to consider delaying an eviction, and new rules on damages for unlawful eviction. These are not in force yet and no start date has been set.

"I was misled into leaving"

• If you were misled into leaving, for example told the home was being sold and it was then let again, you can apply to the Tribunal for a wrongful termination order of up to 6 months' rent. New rules on these payments apply where the tenancy ended on or after 6 October 2026. The checker cannot confirm the new rules.

"I've been locked out" or "my landlord is forcing me out"

• Under the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 it is a criminal offence to evict you without following the legal process, or to harass you to make you leave. Call the police (999 if you are in danger, 101 if not) and the council.

"My rent is going up"

• A landlord can raise the rent only once in 12 months, on the correct form, with at least 3 months' written notice. There is currently no cap on the increase.
• If you do not accept an increase, return part 3 of the notice to your landlord and apply to Rent Service Scotland. A rent officer then sets the rent, which can be lower than, the same as, or higher than your landlord asked for.
• A cap on increases after a referral applies only to rent increase notices given on or after 1 April 2027. No rent control area has been set up yet.

"I want to leave"

• You can end the tenancy by giving at least 28 days' written notice.

"What about my deposit?"

• Your landlord must pay your deposit into an approved scheme within 30 working days of the tenancy starting. If they did not, the Tribunal can order them to pay you up to 3 times the deposit.
• If you and your landlord disagree about deductions from a protected deposit at the end of a tenancy, the deposit scheme's free dispute service can decide.

"My home needs repairs"

• You can apply to the Tribunal if your home does not meet the repairing standard.

"I rent from the council or a housing association"

• You normally have a Scottish secure tenancy, or a short Scottish secure tenancy in specific situations. Eviction goes to the sheriff court, not the Tribunal.
• The landlord must first send a notice of proceedings, which gives you at least 4 weeks before they can go to court. For most grounds the sheriff must also decide eviction is reasonable. If an order is made and you do not leave by the date given, sheriff officers can remove you.

"I rent a room in my landlord's home"

• If you rent a room in your landlord's own home, they were living there when you moved in, and you can go directly from their part of the home to yours, they are a resident landlord. They must give the notice in your agreement or reasonable notice, usually at least 28 days, but do not need a court order. After valid notice ends, they can ask the police to remove you.

"I might become homeless"

• You are threatened with homelessness if you are likely to become homeless within 2 months. Contact the council's homeless team, which you can do at any time of day or night.
• If the council has reason to think you may be homeless, it must give you temporary accommodation while it decides. The priority need test no longer applies in Scotland.

Deadlines you must meet

• Rent increase: Rent Service Scotland must receive your application within 21 days of you getting the rent increase notice.
• Deposit not protected: apply to the Tribunal no later than 3 months after the tenancy ends.
• Court or tribunal papers: act on them straight away and get advice before any hearing. The checker cannot confirm the deadline for replying to court papers.
• The checker cannot work out the exact date a notice ends. Check it with an adviser.

Money figures

This guide contains no money figures. The checker cannot tell you the amount of any fee, fine, penalty, award or repayment.

Traps

• "Section 21" and "Section 8" are England words. Scotland uses a notice to leave, and councils and housing associations use a notice of proceedings.
• The Renters' Rights Act 2025 tenancy rules are England law only. They do not apply in Scotland.
• Council and housing association tenants have different rules from private tenants.
• A rule that is "not in force yet" does not apply until its start date, even if the law has been passed.
• Employment tribunal time limits never apply to housing problems.