Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill

My initial response is that I don't like the 3-month rental refund/penalty if the tenancy is not correctly 'formatted.' What does that mean? One little line missing off the bottom of a page and it's a 3-month fine! Christ. They just love fining landlords, don't they?
And also the fact that a tenant can go an extra month into arrears compared to now - so we end up being owed more.
The best way to deal with it is to be super-careful with what tenants one accepts in the future - so the riskier tenants can go and look elsewhere and the councils, housing organisations and certain MPs (like Siobhain McDonagh) can forget trying to persuade us to take on these riskier people just so that they can later sneer at us as they support that tenant in their non-paying behaviour. They hate us but they also want to use us when it suits them. Well they can forget that.

'7. Tenants can end a tenancy by giving 28 days notice within the first six months and 56 days notice thereafter'

Does this mean that even though a tenant signs up to a 12 month lease they can give 28 days notice to leave at any stage within the first 6 months? If so I find that very concerning!

This is really bad legislation. It effectively means that the tenant decides when to leave. There are no fixed term leases. Nothing wrong with that?

Ability to plan saves money and reduces rents.

Think of the student market. It works on a 12 month cycle. Many groups of students change after a year. Some medics get assigned to hospitals in other towns and move out. Language students go overseas for a year. What are the rules for joint leases? An individual cannot give notice on the lease, all tenants have to do so. Do students remember when to give notice? No. I usually (as do most student landlords) have a fixed term 12 mo lease. I discuss with the tenants whether they wish to stay on. If they do I issue a new 12 mo lease (usually with no rent increase). If they do not I advertise and get new tenants for a 12 mo fixed term. The checking process and reference process takes about 6-8 weeks. I go through the renewal/new tenant process at Easter. If that process is delayed then there will be voids. Currently I have little or no voids. If my void increases then so do my rents. My management costs go up and so do my rents. Not good for tenants. Do legislators have brains?

In the past I have had the discussion with students who just want a 9 mo lease. No problem. As I cannot lease the property for 3 months then you can have it a rent of £X*12/9 where £X is the 12 mo rent. The discussion is not very frequent. Most students work 12 mo per year to pay for uni.

I have stated this in the 'consultation' process.

This kind of silliness was last introduced in the UK in the 1970s. Even working for a FT100 company with a rental package did not help. In London the landlords only were prepared to rent to foreigners on the argument that it was reasonable to presume that the foreigner, after his assignment finished, would leave, whereas the UK national might not.

Reply to the comment left by "Rod Adams" at "05/11/2015 - 15:12":

Having now read the actual bill it looks like the summary posted above is a mis-interpretation. The tenant can give 28 days notice within the first 6 months but only if the initial period of the tenancy has expired. So if the initial period was 6 months, the earliest they could give notice is 6 months - 28 days. If the initial period is greater than 6 months they have to give 56 days notice. Which is pretty much where I am with the lease I use currently.

Complete waste of time more red tape costs for tenants will rise industry should be self regulated if you want to rent deal with a landlord you trust, if tenant seems dodgy get three months deposit at start, if very dodgy six months, never needed to reference waste of time tenant produces photo id, utility and council tax bill or no let, no need to make things complicated is there. Another piece of nonsense is the dps unnecessary.

Reply to the comment left by "Simon " at "06/11/2015 - 10:50":

I actually think its a fairly well balanced piece of legislation which gives reasonable rights to both landlords and tenants. I'm not sure there will be any additional overhead in terms of administration over what is already in place in Scotland. Granted this would be a significant change over the English system which, lets face it, hasn't moved on much since the Dark Ages!

One area of concern I did have was the rent setting element, however having read it, it may not be the issue I thought. The setting element is only for increases in rent, not the rent for the initial period. It also allows for 'Rent Pressure Zones' where the increases would be limited to CPI + 1 + a defined number (which cannot be negative). I suspect this will lead to a de-facto standard that rents increase by CPI + 1 annually even where there is no Rent Pressure Zone. Seems reasonable to me and less scope for tenants to challenge this as it is defined in the legislation.

This is the 1977 rent act all over again. I have been a Landlord since 1986. I remember the 1977 act patently better than most politicians. The two key points of the 1977 rent act where, you couldn't get your property back just because you wanted it and the Rent Officer told you what rent to charge. It seemed a Magic formula in 1977 for the government. Low rents and protected tenancies, but it soon started to unwind. No one was stupid to offer a resonable standard vacant property and create a new tenancy. The returns were so low when by chance you had a vacant property, you sold it. The result was the massive decline in rental property. Tenants were so desperate for somewhere to live they accepted low standards. Landlords refused to maintain the properties because of the low returns and in the hope their tenants would leave the damp dump so they could sell it. I brought a block of flats in poor condition very cheap. I left it in a poor condition. I hated advertising a vacancy, I would get a 100 desperate people on the phone. I have been a Landlord for 30 years. I truly think the era of being a Landlord is over. It is turning full circle back to the dark days. It will take the government 5/10 years to learn again the lesson of the 1977 rent act which they changed with the 1988 Act. What they learnt was, you can’t force by legislation, lots of low cost Rental Accommodation of a high standard when the UK property market is to expensive to offer the that possiablity. Landlords and rental properties are like mercury in the palm of your hand. Close your fingers around them and squeeze them hard. Open your hand and there all but gone.

Reply to the comment left by "Rod Adams" at "06/11/2015 - 11:24":

I have been through the era of Rent Officers telling me what I can charge and protected tenancies. With respect, you have no idea how to me, naive you comments. What are you going to do when your tenant has a party every weekend. Take them to court? They will say they are sorry and the Judge will cancel your eviction. The tenants will then have a party to celebrate. In the meantime the Rent Officer (paid by the government) will half the rent your tenants have to pay and you can no longer evict them. It is a nightmare on Elm Street. I wish I had your rose colour glasses, hindsite to them away.

Reply to the comment left by "Graham Chilvers" at "07/11/2015 - 16:35":

Graham, have you actually read the proposed legislation?

Reply to the comment left by "Graham Chilvers" at "07/11/2015 - 16:35":

Graham, have you actually read the proposed legislation?