The Scottish Government has made the Private Residential Tenancies (Prescribed Notices and Forms) (Scotland) Regulations 2026, SSI 2026/279, with effect from 1 April 2027. Made on 30 September 2026 and laid before the Scottish Parliament on 2 October 2026, the instrument replaces the prescribed forms used for several core steps in Scotland's private rented sector. On the face of the regulations, the change is procedural rather than a rewrite of tenancy rights. The instrument sets the forms that landlords and tenants must use under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, and it fixes the date from which the new paperwork becomes mandatory.
According to regulation 2 and schedule 1, a tenant who intends to apply to the First-tier Tribunal under section 14(1) or section 16(1) of the 2016 Act must use the new prescribed notice where that notice is given on or after 1 April 2027. Those applications cover requests for the Tribunal to draw up written tenancy terms, and applications asking the Tribunal to sanction a landlord for failing to provide written terms or other required information. For tenants, that creates a single formal route for signalling the next step in a dispute over tenancy documentation. For landlords, agents and advice bodies, it means existing guidance and template notices tied to Tribunal applications will need to be updated ahead of commencement.
Regulation 3 and schedule 2 prescribe the rent-increase notice that a landlord must use for an increase under section 22(1) of the 2016 Act from 1 April 2027. In practice, this is the document that starts the statutory rent review process for a private residential tenancy, so older template notices will need to be replaced before the changeover date. Regulation 4 and schedule 3 set the matching form for a tenant who wants to refer a proposed increase to a rent officer under section 24(1). The same regulation also requires the tenant to intimate that referral to the landlord by completing Part 3 of the rent-increase notice and sending that completed part to the landlord.
Regulation 5 prescribes the notice to leave that a landlord may serve on a tenant under section 50(1)(a) of the 2016 Act. Regulation 6 does the same for the notice that may be served directly on a sub-tenant under section 61(1). From 1 April 2027, both notices must be given in the forms set out in schedules 4 and 5. That distinction matters operationally for landlords and letting agents handling possession cases, including cases involving sub-letting arrangements. The regulations do not amend the substantive grounds in the 2016 Act; they prescribe the form of the notice used to start those statutory processes.
The transition rule is narrow but important. Regulation 7 provides that the 2017 regulations continue to apply where a notice or referral of the kinds listed in regulations 2 to 6 was given, made or intimated before 1 April 2027. That means the validity of earlier cases will continue to be assessed under the previous framework, even after the new regulations have come into force. Regulation 8 revokes three earlier instruments: the Private Residential Tenancies (Prescribed Notices and Forms) (Scotland) Regulations 2017, the 2022 miscellaneous temporary modifications regulations, and the 2023 temporary modifications regulations. From April 2027, the operative forms for these processes will instead sit in the 2026 regulations.
For the sector, the practical question is now implementation. Landlords, letting agents, tenant representatives, software providers and legal advisers have a lead-in period until 1 April 2027 to update template libraries, digital workflows, case guidance and staff training so that the correct forms are used from day one. The Explanatory Note states that the new forms are for use by landlords and tenants on and after 1 April 2027, while the earlier regime remains in place for notices and referrals already issued. Shirley-Anne Somerville signed the instrument on behalf of the Scottish Government on 30 September 2026, giving the market a defined window to prepare for what is, in policy terms, a focused but important administrative reset.