You will find information on the rights and obligations of private tenants and landlords in our advice on renting by a private landlord. Shelter has information on different types of private rentals and a rental controller so you can check what rent you have. The agreement can also indicate who you need to contact about repairs, rules for tenants, subletting and transfer of your lease. The agreement may have rules for pets, customers or smoking. Oral agreements can be more difficult to enforce in the event of a dispute. In Scotland, in most cases, your landlord must submit a written rental agreement. In particular, your landlord must submit a written rental agreement if you are a tenant of a public dwelling or if you are an insured or short-insured tenant of a private landlord. It allows you to live in a property as long as you pay rent and follow the rules. It also sets the legal terms of your lease.
It can be written or oral (a spoken agreement). The lease must be signed by all tenants and your landlord. If there are common tenants, each tenant should receive a copy of the agreement. Before or at the beginning of your lease, your landlord must also tell you that what a contract says and what the lease actually is may be different. For example, your landlord may say that the contract is not a lease, but an „occupancy license.“ You may have an excluded lease or license if you stay with your landlord and share rooms with them, such as a kitchen or bathroom. With this type of agreement, you generally have less protection against forced evictions. Your landlord can only charge you your rent if they have given you your name and address – regardless of whether you have a written lease or not. Most leases are automatically entered into with short-term leases. This is probably what type of lease if: your right or the right of your landlord to terminate a lease and your right to stay and be protected from eviction depends on the type of lease you have. If you are considering an argument or are trying to reach a verbal agreement with your tenant or landlord, you can get help from your nearest citizen council. An oral agreement can also be changed. The change will usually also be verbal.
In the event of a dispute, proof of the change can be provided if: You can usually tell what type of lease you have by reviewing your agreement. If you are disabled, your landlord may be obliged to change the lease if the length of the contract means that you are in a worse situation than that of someone without your disability. Your agreement should say if you have to pay a down payment, which covers it and the circumstances that mean you will not get your deposit back. A rental agreement cannot be a secure rental contract if: Certain rights and obligations apply regardless of what is in the contract, for example: an owner`s liability for repairs. In England and Wales, for information on the rights and obligations of tenants and social housing owners, consult our advice on renting by a social housing tenant. You will find information on the rights and obligations of private tenants and landlords in our advice on renting by a private landlord. It is a good practice that a written lease contains the following details: A lease may be valid for a specified period, i.e. it ends on a given date, or it can be periodic, which means that it is executed from week to week or month to month.
