Tell your tenant they need to leave

If the tenancy agreement started before 1 December 2017 they do not have a private residential tenancy and you should not use this notice (unless the tenancy was converted to a private residential tenancy after 1 December 2017).

Find out what to do if your tenant has:

• an assured tenancy
• a short assured tenancy

How to use a 'Tenant Notice to Leave'

By giving your tenant a Notice to Leave, you are telling them:

• that they must leave the property
• the date they should leave the property by
• why you are asking them to leave (also known as grounds)

Notice period

You'll need to give your tenant the right amount of time to leave the property and tell them under which grounds you are asking them to leave. The amount of time a tenant is given before they must leave a property is called 'notice'.

Amount of notice

All tenants are entitled to get 28 days’ notice. Some tenants will be able to get 84 days’ notice.

How much notice the landlord has to give the tenant depends on both of these:

1. which of the eviction grounds the landlord is using to end the agreement
2. how long the tenant has lived in the property

28 days' notice (or 4 weeks)

The landlord must give the tenant 28 days’ notice to leave if:

• on the date that the tenant receives the Notice to Leave, the tenancy has been running for 6 months or less

• the only eviction ground(s) in the landlord's notice to leave is that the tenant is one of these:
  • is not occupying the property as the tenant's only or main home
  • has breached the agreement
  • is in rent arrears for 3 or more months in a row
  • has been found guilty, in a court, of certain crimes
  • has been involved in antisocial behaviour
  • has been involved with a person who has been found guilty of certain crimes or has been involved in antisocial behaviour

  84 days' notice (or 12 weeks)

  In all other cases, the landlord must give the tenant 84 days' notice if both these apply:

  • on the date that the tenant receives the landlord's notice, the tenancy has been running for more than 6 months
  • the landlord's notice includes any of the eviction ground(s) not mentioned above

  Giving the notice to your tenant

  If you give your tenant this notice by recorded post or by email, you will need to delay the start date of the notice period by 2 days to give your tenant time to receive it. For example, you may send a Notice to Leave on the 1st of June which tells the tenant that their notice period begins on the 3rd of June.

  Should you choose to have a Sheriff Officer deliver the notice by hand, you do not need to delay the start of the notice period.

  Subtenants

  If you also want to evict a subtenant you'll need to use the 'Subtenant Notice to Leave'. You'll need to include a copy of your tenant's Notice to Leave with the notice which you give to your subtenant.

  Refusing to leave the property

  If your tenant ignores the Notice to Leave or refuses to leave the property, you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber to issue an eviction notice.

  Create a 'Tenant Notice to Leave'

  To complete the form you will need:

  • details about your grounds for asking a tenant to leave
  • evidence to support these details, if you have it
  • your tenant's details
  • the end of the notice period - this means the last date before your tenant must leave.

  If you're evicting joint tenants you can add their names to the same Notice to Leave. If you're evicting any tenants who aren't on the same tenancy agreement you will have to give each tenant their own Notice to Leave. This means you will have to complete this form more than once.