A new national survey, Voice of the Tenant (Scotland), has shed light on the challenges faced by tenants in Scotland's private rented sector. Conducted with 1,000 tenants across the country, the representative survey highlights significant gaps in tenant awareness about their rights and available support when issues arise with their rental properties.
Key Findings: Problems and Redress
The survey found that 61% of tenants had experienced issues with the quality or condition of their rental home in the past six months. Maintenance is inevitable on any rental property, and encouragingly, 88% reported these problems to their landlord or letting agent, and the majority (85%) of cases were either fully or partially resolved.
However, when landlords or agents failed to address these problems, few tenants sought out redress. Only 9% escalated complaints to their local council, and just 4% approached the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, the primary body handling private tenancy disputes.
This low level of engagement persists despite efforts to streamline the system in 2017, when the Tribunal took over responsibilities for resolving most rental issues.
Positive Outcomes for Tenants Who Escalate Complaints
For the tenants who did escalate their complaints, outcomes were overwhelmingly positive. Over 75% of tenants who contacted their local council said their issues were fully or partially addressed, while an impressive 92% of tenants who sought help from the First-tier Tribunal were satisfied with the response.
Similarly, tenants who challenged rent increases - though rare, with just 8% appealing to Rent Service Scotland and 4% to the Tribunal - were generally satisfied with the results. This suggests that Scotland's redress systems are effective but underutilised.
Why Aren't More Tenants Seeking Help?
A key barrier is lack of awareness and understanding. Alarmingly, 45% of tenants said they didn't know where to turn if their landlord or agent failed to resolve a housing problem. This echoes findings from the Rent Better study, which noted that tenant awareness of rights has not improved significantly over the past five years.
The survey also revealed that nearly one in four tenants feared retaliatory evictions, discouraging them from escalating complaints - even though "no-fault" evictions were abolished in Scotland in 2017.
A Call to Action
These findings highlight an urgent need to better educate tenants about their rights and the support systems available to them. Increased awareness could empower more tenants to take action where needed against the minority of criminal landlords or letting agents, improving standards across the private rented sector.
About the Survey
The Voice of the Tenant (Scotland) survey was commissioned by the SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust to explore tenant experiences in Scotland's private rented sector. It is part of a broader research initiative that includes the forthcoming Voice of the Landlord (Scotland) survey, set to be published in early 2025.
I felt like my case was not handled correctly as we were asked to leave early so property management could do work and re-rent for 1st of May. Even showed we had to stay in hotel 2 nights to accomodate as our furniture had gone into storage for short period. plus the the rental advertisement. Not our fault they didnt rent it for 1st. Yet you subtracted extra rent from us. Not fair appears to lean towards property management side when very few of them are honest.