Notice to Leave dates

Update 10 April 2019 :
In the item below published on 4 April 2019, we highlighted a recent tribunal case in which a Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) eviction application was rejected because the landlord gave the tenant too much notice.

We have discussed this with the government and they have made it clear that it was not their intention for the tenancy legislation to prevent landlords giving more notice than is required in the legislation. They will endeavour to change the legislation as soon as possible to allow more flexibility in how much notice landlords give to tenants.

In the meantime the government will amend their guidance and templates which currently imply in a number of places that giving more notice is allowable. For help in calculating notice to leave dates please contact us for an advice callback.

Item published 4 April 2019:
Under the new PRT regime the landlord must serve a Notice to Leave to commence eviction proceedings. The notice period required is either 28 days or 84 days depending on the eviction ground being used and how long the tenant has been living in the property. For most methods of delivery a further 48 hours has to be added on for delivery time.

The importance of giving the correct amount of notice has been highlighted in a recent decision by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing & Property Chamber) in which an eviction application was rejected because the landlord gave the tenant too much notice. Details of the case can be read here. This is the first decision we have seen on this matter and is a very strict interpretation of the new legislation.

We recommend using this online date calculator to accurately work out notice to leave dates.

Members can ask all their questions about Notice to Leave or any other aspect of private letting in Scotland, directly to our advisers with unlimited helpline access to one of our most popular and widely used member benefits. Request an advice call back.

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