On our latest article in the Spring 2026 issue of Landlord Focus magazine, Adam Gardiner considers why now may be a good time for landlords to convert to a Private Residential Tenancy.
It is likely not a question of if all private rental sector tenancies in Scotland will convert to a Private Residential Tenancy (PRT), but when.
From 1 December 2017, the old residential types known as the ‘Assured’ or ‘Short Assured Tenancy’ were abolished. Any new tenancy must be a PRT. However, any existing tenancies of the old type remain until termination.
It has been long possible for landlords and tenants to agree to convert their old style tenancy to a PRT voluntarily, albeit this has not been widely done.
Many working in the private residential sector believe it is the Scottish Government’s intention to convert to the modern PRT. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 gave the Scottish Government the power to declare when the tenancies shall automatically convert. It is fair to assume that change is likely to come during the next parliament.
But is there a benefit to getting ahead of the game and converting tenancies sooner? Overall, our view is that there is.
Despite almost a decade of the new tenancy regime, research by the Scottish Association of Landlords found that as much as a third of the market appears to consist of older tenancies. The reality, though, is that two regimes have largely the same rules and restrictions.
Rent increases are now restricted in basically the same way. Tenants are also given the same rights of tenure. Both tenancies are subject to the same rules about landlord registration, gas and fire safety, legionella and repairing standard obligations.
Most importantly, both tenancies are equally subject to the notorious “reasonableness test” for evictions. This means that no eviction order will be granted by the First-tier Tribunal - regardless of the tenancy and the reason for termination - unless the Tribunal decides it is reasonable to do so.
Instead, older tenancies simply retain the features which made the 2017 upgrade desirable. They had many traps for unwary landlords not fully informed.
Compared to the PRT, the method for terminating an older tenancy is more complicated and exposed to error. A landlord of an older tenancy may need to serve sometimes three notices with different periods to terminate. The PRT notice rules are far more straightforward.
In addition, PRT notices can be served by email, which is legally prohibited for the older tenancy types.
Most importantly, the old system is unduly punitive on unsuspecting landlords. A landlord who wanted to evict their tenant to sell the property would be unable to do so unless they had followed procedures to create a Short Assured Tenancy. However, sale is arguably the most common ground which is valid for termination of the PRT.
We have not experienced any situation where the older tenancies’ style of termination would benefit the PRT.
In contrast, we have experienced cases where the landlord has lost or missing paperwork from their older tenancy which makes eviction much harder - or even impossible.
Recently, we have advised clients that they would benefit from converting. Of course, until the automatic conversion is put into effect, this is only possible if the landlord and tenant agree.
In summary, the old tenancy system is no longer fit for purpose. Any advantage it once had over the PRT has been stripped away. The modern system is here to stay and, while we have misgivings about some of its features, it largely works better.
