Your responsibilities when renting a home

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Your rental agreement 

Your rental agreement is the contract between you and your landlord. It’s also known as a tenancy agreement. In most cases your landlord must give you a written tenancy agreement.

The tenancy agreement should tell you what your responsibilities are. For example, paying your rent and bills and looking after the property. 

Find out more about tenancy agreements on the Citizens Advice Scotland website (citizensadvice.org.uk)

Paying your rent

Your rental agreement should tell you:  

• How much rent you must pay  
• When you should pay it  

You must pay your rent in full and on time. You should contact your landlord if you can’t pay your rent on time.  

Paying your bills

Some landlords will charge for rent only and you'll pay bills separately. Other landlords may offer a property or a room with both rent and bills included. Your rental agreement should tell you what bills you need to pay. 

Council tax

You pay council tax to your local council. This money pays for local services such as:  

•  Rubbish and recycling collection   
•  Local area maintenance  

You usually have to pay council tax if:  

• You're 18 or over    
• You own or rent a home  

You need to register for council tax with your local council when you move.  

You do not have to pay council tax if every person living in the property is a student.

Find out more about council tax (citizensadvice.org.uk) 

Learn more about council tax (mygov.scot) 

Energy supply

If you’ve just moved to a new home, contact your energy supplier.   

There are things you should do to make sure you don’t pay too much for your gas and electricity.   

Find out more about dealing with your energy supply when moving home (citizensadvice.org.uk)  

Taking care of the home

You should take care of the home. This includes:  

• Keeping your home clean  
• Not causing any damage to the home or furniture  
• Carrying out maintenance, such as changing lightbulbs  
• Keeping your home well heated and ventilated to avoid dampness  

If there are repairs needed in the home, you should report these to the landlord as soon as possible. You should allow access for repairs to be done.  

Header image: VisitScotland / Kenny Lam