Renting a property is becoming very common in Edinburgh. Because of this the government has outlined various rights of a tenant which cannot be abused by the landlord in any way possible.

Rights as a tenant: First of all a tenant has a right to quiet enjoyment of his/her property. Hence the landlord is required to give a prior notice of at least 24 hours if he wants access to the property. The only exception to this rule is in case of an emergency. For this reason most of the letting agents inspect the property regularly to see if everything is in order. Besides this, in order for the tenant to have a quiet enjoyment of a property the landlord must take some positive actions.

He is required to insure the property before it is being rented out. He is also required to look after the property and pay any cost of repair of structure and also water, electric, heating and sanitary installations. Landlord is also required to ensure that all the soft furnishings in the property are in compliance with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) Safety Regulations1988. Hence they must be fire safety compliant and for this purpose he must check for fire safety label on all furnishings. The landlord is also required to return the full deposit at the end of tenancy. If he has made any deductions from the deposit then he must explain the reason behind it. A tenant can be evicted from the property but only through a court order. He must also provide for reasonable adjustments in his property to accommodate tenants with disabilities. The landlord is also required to check that the gas appliances and fitting in the property are safe for use. He must also check that the maintenance, installation and the annual safety checks are carried out by a registered gas installer, which gives a certificate that everything is safe.

Moreover the landlord cannot change locks of the property without informing the tenant and at the same time he must give a new set of keys to the tenant. The landlord also cannot cut off the utilities of the tenant. This will be interference with his enjoyment of the property. He is also not allowed to interfere with tenant’s mail. Also he must not threaten the tenant verbally or physically. If any argument takes place between the two then it must be resolved peacefully without interfering with the tenants use of property.