Information for private landlords

Private landlords must register with Fife Council if they wish to legally let their property. If you have not submitted an application, you are letting illegally. If the council is notified that you are letting without a valid landlord registration, it will request you apply immediately.

Please see our Landlord Accreditation page for more information, including how to apply.

More information and advice on the Section 11 process, and what is required, can be found on our Section 11 Notice page.

Universal Credit

As a private landlord, you can help your tenants understand their Universal Credit claim, and what they can do to ensure their housing costs are being paid..

Information on what advice you can give to your tenant about universal credit, and what it means for you as a private landlord, can be found below:

What Universal Credit means for landlords - Understanding Universal Credit

Universal Credit | Fife Council

Local Housing Allowance 

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the name for Housing Benefit for private tenants.

Please see table below for LHA Rates Payable (Weekly) in Fife for 2024 - 2025:

Please visit our Local Housing Allowance webpage, for more information. This includes LHA direct payment to landlord, under certain circumstances.

Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)

A Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) is a short-term payment awarded to people who need help paying their rent. An award is payable for a period of 6 or 12 months, depending on their circumstances.

Short Term Housing Support

Short Term Housing Support is a service that helps tenants of both social and private housing with a range of tasks, to help them to sustain their tenancies. It's a service provided by Fife Council through several partner organisations, such as Link Living and The Richmond Fellowship Scotland.

Tasks that a tenant can receive help with include:

• Debt
• Budgeting
• Healthy living
• Household skills

To receive this service, referrals must be made to the Council. Landlords or tenants can contact us at STHS@fife.gov.uk  or by calling 07783807485, to request an application form or to get further advice.

Home Energy

Cosy Kingdom is a free and impartial energy and debt advice service, available to all landlords across Fife.

It’s a partnership between Greener Kirkcaldy, St Andrews Environmental Network and Citizens Advice & Rights Fife. More energy advice can be found online, on our Benefits and Money Advice section.

Private Sector Housing Options Officers

The Private Sector Housing Options Officers assist with helping Landlords and Tenants to sustain tenancies, through advice, signposting and referrals to partners and services.

Enquires can be sent to the team via email, at HousingOptions.PRS@fife.gov.uk

What is a tenancy deposit scheme?

When a deposit is paid to a private landlord or letting agency, they are required to register the deposit with a tenancy deposit scheme provider.

The three scheme providers in Scotland are:

• Letting Protection Service Scotland
• My Deposit Scotland
• Safe Deposit Scotland

Information that Landlords must give the scheme provider:

• their contact details
• their tenant's contact details
• details of the tenancy and property to which the deposit relate

When to register a tenant’s deposit?

A tenant’s deposit must be registered with a tenancy deposit scheme within 30 working days of the tenancy starting. If the tenancy is ended within this 30 working day period, so long as the deposit is returned to the tenant in full, the requirement to register the deposit does not apply.

What can happen if a private landlord fails to use a Tenancy Deposit Scheme

Where a Private Landlord has failed to place a tenant’s deposit into a tenancy deposit scheme, the tenant can make an application to the First Tier Tribunal. This can be done either during the tenancy, or up to three months after the tenancy has ended.

The tribunal can order the landlord to pay the tenant up to three times the amount of the deposit and to pay the deposit into a scheme as well as comply with the other requirements of the tenancy deposit scheme regulations.

Returning a deposit

Both landlord and tenant can apply for the deposit to be returned from the tenancy deposit scheme.

Tenants and Landlords must apply to have the deposit returned from the scheme as soon as is reasonably practicable, after the tenancy has ended. If the tenant applies before the landlord does, but the landlord applies within 30 days of the tenant submitting their application, then the scheme will progress the application of the landlord instead of the tenants.

In the application, both the tenant and landlord must decide the amount of the deposit they think should be:

• returned to the tenant, and
• returned to the landlord

Once the scheme provider has received either the tenant and landlord's applications, they will write to the tenant or landlord informing them of the amount that either party thinks should be returned. If the landlord is making no claim on the deposit, it will be returned in full to the tenant within five working days.

If the landlord is making a claim, then the scheme will write to the tenant to advise them how much the landlord is seeking. The tenant must respond to the scheme provider within 30 working days, stating whether they agree or disagree with this amount.

If the tenant disagrees, they should write to the scheme provider detailing the amount they believe should be returned to them. If the tenant does not write to the scheme provider to confirm or dispute the amount within 30 working days, the scheme provider will return an amount of money to the landlord, within five working days.

Fife Private Rental Solutions (FPRS) is for landlords who are interested in letting property in the private rented sector. FPRS provides a bespoke service including:

• advice and guidance on all legislative property requirements
• mediation/resolution of any issues with the tenancy
• rent resolution/negotiation for arrears, advanced income maximisation and advice on funding options for rent in advance for tenants, deposit guarantee to secure a tenancy
• general advice for Private Landlords

FPRS are an ethical letting agent and can offer the following paid services to landlords:

• full property management service
• let only service
• one of property services

Further advice and information can be sought from FPRS directly on the contact details below:

• Phone: 01592 201849
• Email: info@fprs.co.uk
• Web: Home - Fife Private Rental Solutions

Ending a Private Residential Tenancy

Your tenant must have a private residential tenancy, if their tenancy began on or after 1st December 2017, or was converted to a private residential tenancy on or after that date. You can only end a private residential tenancy if one of the 18 grounds for eviction applies.

• Notice to Leave:
  • To end the tenancy, you must give your tenant a Notice to Leave.
  • The notice tells them which of the eviction grounds apply (the reason why you are asking them to leave), and the expiry date of the notice.
  • The tenant has the right to remain in their current property until an eviction order has been granted by the First Tier Tribunal. This can only happen after the NTL/NTQ period has expired.
• Sending the notice:
  • If you send the Notice by recorded delivery post, or by email, the law says you must add an extra two days to the notice period. This is to allow time for the Notice to arrive.
  • The notices to be used with private residential tenancies, including the Notice to Leave, are available on the Scottish Government website.
  • Landlords can also find Guidance Notes for Tenants – you should download these and give them to your tenant with the Notice to Leave. This will help them to understand what the Notice means.
  • You can also create and download a Notice to Leave
• Eviction orders:
  • If you give your tenant a Notice to Leave, and they do not move out as soon as the notice period ends, you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) for an eviction order.
  • Before submitting an application to the Tribunal for an eviction order, you must inform the local authority of your intention to apply to the Tribunal. You must do this by completing a Section 11 Notice. This notice, and more information, can be found at on our Section 11 web page.

Ending a short assured tenancy/assured tenancy

Short assured and assured tenancies are for a fixed length of time (at least six months). Tenants who moved in before 1st December 2017 will have this type of tenancy.

Repossession before or at tenancy end date:

• If the tenancy has come to a natural end, and you wish to take the tenancy back, providing you issued a valid AT5 notice at the beginning of the tenancy, you must provide your tenant with 
  • A Notice To Quit
  • a Section 33 Notice
• A valid AT6 Notice should be served when you are taking the property back for any reason other than the tenancy coming to its natural end. You must advise what grounds you are using to do this.

Further advice and information on Private Residential Tenancy, Short Assured Tenancy/Assured Tenancy, eviction process, and templates to the notice mentioned above can be found at:

Ending a tenancy as a landlord - mygov.scot

Get Housing Advice - Shelter Scotland