Rent Increase Notice — Scotland PRT Template

Rent increases on a Private Residential Tenancy in Scotland follow a different process from England. The landlord serves a Notice of Increase using the prescribed Form to the tenant; the tenant can refer the increase to a Rent Officer at Rent Service Scotland within 21 days; the Rent Officer determines the open market rent. The Rent Officer’s decision can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal by either party.

Three rules to remember: once per 12 months (not 52 weeks — the Scottish framework uses months, unlike England post-RRA), three months’ notice (longer than England’s two months), and referral to a Rent Officer, not the tribunal (the tribunal is the appeal route, not the first-instance review).

This template handles those mechanics. Use it for any PRT rent increase — do not use a Section 13 Form 4A intended for England, which references the wrong legislation and the wrong appeal body.

Scotland — the rent cap landscape. The emergency rent cap under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 expired on 31 March 2024. No emergency cap is currently in force. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 introduces local Rent Control Areas (CPI+1%, max 6%) but the earliest implementation isn’t until mid-2027.

For now, the only restrictions on PRT rent increases are: once every 12 months, three months’ notice using the prescribed form, and the tenant’s right to refer to a Rent Officer within 21 days. Landlords should also check whether any specific Rent Pressure Zone has been designated for the property’s area before serving — most have not, but the regime exists in the 2016 Act and councils can apply.