Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (AST) Tips
Written by The Landlord on 23 Nov 2009
1] Length of tenancy
Don’t give a fixed term longer than 6 months unless you trust your tenants. You can always extend the contract when the fixed term has expired.
2] Signed tenancy agreements
Never allow a tenant to move into your property until the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is signed.
3] Keep an original copy
Hold an AST with their original signatures (i.e. not photocopies, or a faxed or scanned copy). Your tenant should also keep a copy with original signatures.
4] Ensure legality
Ensure that the Tenancy Agreement you use is valid and legal. A lot of agreements are sourced from unreliable vendors, which aren’t completely legal.
5] Statutory rights
None of the tenant’s statutory rights can be revoked or conflicted with, even if stated in the AST.
6] Minimal length of contract
An Assured Shorthold Tenant is entitled to stay in the property for a minimum of 6 months, even if the agreement stipulates a shorter period.
7] Should be included
The following should be included in the agreement:
- tenant and landlord name, and the address of the property which is being let
- the date the tenancy began
- the duration of the tenancy
- the amount of rent payable, how often and when it should be paid and how often and when it can be increased.
- Who is responsible for which bills e.g council tax, utility bills .etc
- if pets are allowed
8] Ammending T&C’s
A tenancy agreement can be changed if both the tenant and landlord agree. If both agree, the change should be recorded in writing, either by drawing up a new written document setting out the terms of the tenancy or by amending the existing written tenancy agreement. Moreover, ensure that the chances you make are LEGAL. Seek legal advice to get confirmation.
9] Periodic Assured Shorthold
At the end of the fixed term if the tenancy agreement is not renewed, it then becomes what is known as a Statutory Periodic Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement. The terms of the original tenancy agreement still apply, but the tenancy continues on an agreed period by period basis.
10] Notice to quit
To end an AST, the Landlord MUST serve a Section 21 (Notice of Possession Order Form), at least 2 months prior to the end of the agreed termination date.
11] Using a appropriate AST
An AST can vary in content depending on whether the property for let is furnished or unfurinished. Make sure you use an agreement which matches your let type.
12] Assured Tenancy Vs Assured Shorthold Tenancy
There’s a difference between an “Assured Tenancy” and “Assured Shorthold Tenancy”. In short, with a shorthold tenancy the landlord can regain possession of the property 6 months after the beginning of the tenancy, provided that he or she gives 2 months notice to the tenant. A assured tenancy gives the right to a tenant to remain in the property unless the landlord can prove to the coirt that he or she has grounds for posession. The landlord does not have an automatic right to reposess the property when the tenancy comes to an end.
13] Rentbook
If you have made the rent payable weekly, you have to provide the tenant with a rent book in the prescribed form (obtainable from from most large stationers).
14] Up-to-date AST’s
Make sure the AST you use is up to date. Over the years new laws have come into play, which should all be included in the contract.
15] Tenant deposit
If you’re taking a deposit from your tenant, it must be protected under one of the government approved tenancy deposit schemes, and inform the tenant using the proper form within 14 days of taking the deposit.
16] Landlord address
Ensure the AST contains an address for the landlord in England and Wales. Otherwise the agreement will not comply with section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, which means that rent will not be payable by the tenant. The address can be that of an agent if the landlord is living abroad or in Scotland.
17] Tenancy Agreements in May/June
Try not to offer a 6 month AST in May or June, it’s harder to re-let in Nov, Dec and Jan if tenant vacates. 8 month agreements during May/June is a better idea.
Got anymore? Let’s hear it, and I’ll add it to the list.
Related Articles
18 Comments - join the conversation...
Jools
2
3
4
Jools
5
Scott@Financially Free Landlord
6
7
8
9
10
You describe people identifying the house as for rent (I'd guess because of a For Rent sign in the front garden) and walking up your drive to take a closer look. Whilst this is incredibly bad mannered, it is not the fault of your Housing Association landlord.
11
12
In one of your many other posts you say you paid a £125 fee to renew your tenancy which you have not had offered back.
If you renewed the tenancy agreement from Jan 2012 to Jan 2013 then your Landlord can not issue a Section 21 notice asking for two months to terminate the tenancy, see http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/difference-between-section-8-and-section-21-notice/ for more info.
If they want posession of your property before the tenancy ends (Jan 2013), they will have to either:
+ Issue a section 8 notice and for that to be agreed by the court the landlord must be able to prove you've done something very wrong under the agreement
+ Bargin with you to see if you'll end the tenancy early by mutual consent. And of course you can do this, or not, on terms acceptable to you.
I don't know what you mean by "they threw it out". Who's "they"?
Your other posts paint a picture of a mould infested eletrical deathtrap run by a landlord who's the DIY-er from hell. Why you renewed is beyond me but as you can't change the past, if I were in your shoes, I'd be reminding the landlord of my legal rights; telling him I'll assert the rights I have and be more vigorous in with-holding rent in the future to fix maintenance problems he refuses to get resolved professionally (this will drive him mad - spending his money on a house he may plan to dispose of) and inviting him to put down a sensible offer for the early termination of the tenancy. Those terms to include a guarantee of the return of the deposit.
13
The sockets did spark.. Desperate times unfortunately.
We signed a form that asked us if we wanted to renew etc after a letter saying We're delighted to inform you your landlord whats to renew with you blah blah etc. We signed acompanying form and paid the fee (they is the Estate Agents) this was a week or so before Christmas. Come January 4th, we recieve a section 21 notice. There are less than 2 months left, I'm not sure how to play it. Council bloke says the notice they sent us what perfectly fine after I showed it to him (I don't see how!) and that no, we did not have a case. They (agents) have said oh yes you will get your fee back, upon my mid sentence asking about ending before the notice was up, he hung up on me. As far as they're concerned, we didn't renew our tenancy, they just have £125 for no apparent reason unless he decided around the same time he didn't want to renew but in that case we could have been told and he could have had us out by the 14th Jan instead. It makes no sense to me.
14
Thanks for your further details. English contract law demands three things:
Offer (they invited you to stay for a year)
Acceptance (you signed the forms)
Consideration (you gave them money)
So:
1 = Have you kept the agent's original letter offering renewal;
2 = Did you take a photocopy of the form you completed?
3 = Did they cash your cheque in?
If you've got 1 and / or 2 and also they've done 3, then you have enough evidence to show the landlord's agent has bound the landlord into offering you a further year. The fact they have not got round to the admin of issuing a replacement agreement with the new dates on it is immaterial.
Then you've got the ace cards in the negotiation. This is guesswork, but either the agent has mucked up and offered renewal when the landlord told them not to or the landlord has changed his mind. Either way someone is trying to do something naughty to you to cover up their mistake / change of mind.
Decide if you want to leave the dump. Then extract a high price for the highly valuable right of early release.
BTW: I think the council person probably reviewed the form to make sure it was drafted properly. My opinion of council workers is that they are really good at knowing housing law and regulations, but not very good at knowing contract law. This is a contract law issue. If you've got a friendly solicitor or para-legal in commercial practice, give them a shout.
Let us know how you get on.
15
The form is literally only signed by my partner and I, the form they had from us that is, we have a blank copy but we can easily re-sign it so both have signed copies.
Payment was via Debit Card so I pressume yes they have taken the money. (I typed this and my other half chirped in that yes, the most definitely took payment)
My aunt is a solicitor although she specialises in family law but she might be able to give us some advice or be able to consult with a collegue.
We do want to just get out of here, but that's not the point, it's that they're trying to take us for a ride and the way they have treated us is absolutley disgusting.
16
As far as I'm concerned, you have them hoisted in a gibbet for the sport of their own crows. You have a cast-iron agreement to a tenancy expiring in Jan 2013.
Early release of your rights is on terms acceptable to you. Make them sweat! Bring a friend of your Aunt in if they appear to refuse to listen to you.
Yes, I agree your point about how badly your story paints the landlord. I hope my advice goes a littel way to helping realise not all landlords are awful! Make sure to tell lots of your local friends how bad this place is.
17
Thank you. I don't think the fact helps that I was moving here (Staffordshire) from Birmingham either.
I didn't think this would happen, I didn't expect it to be perfect but I didn't expect him to be a scumbag. He tried telling my mum (our guarantor) that he was poor. His contractor friend told me he not long built an annex on his already huge property, and the landlord himself told me he was going away on holiday for the second time in 3 months. But he's poor! Upstairs and next door who we're friends with no exactly what I think now of them though (we're good friends and we've all agreed he just can't be bothered) of course none of them have really pushed to get things done so he leaves them alone. If he tries to visit in the mean time, I'm not going to allow him in and if he insists on trying to enter then I'll call the police line. Actually, I could have been so nasty and just not let him in when he came round even though he said he was coming. (I would have gone over my contract to call him back as I was out of minutes)
I really appreciate the advice and input. I know not all landlords are bad, I guess I just drew the short straw. I ended up staying at my fellas houseshare (2nd year of uni at the time) and his landlord was one of the nicest guys I had ever met! He was a little old gent and he was so nice, he tried his best to resolve problems and actually came round to maintain the backgarden himself with his wife and always kept people informed and was very nice about me practically moving in there, he could have (and I wouldn't have argued it) wanted to add a little more to his rent but no, he was lovely and sang my fellas praises about what a good tennant he is. I hope the other agents we go to (if we can get this flat we view on Saturday) are as nice. Their writing and talking in person seems a lot nicer than the current agents website (who sound all ME ME ME LANDLORD MONEY ME ME AND I GUESS MAYBE YOU) fingers crossed eh. Though this new place is beautiful, looks in good repair, modern, well cared for unlike this place. Theres a floorboard that goes doooown when you step on it as it clearly needs replacing which I said about when we moved in that needs fixing (as they said the day before we got the keys the floorboards were being done that day, and they were.. just in one room) and this is the most trodden area of the house as you come in, go through the kitchen in to this room and it's right in the door way. Speaking of the kitchen, that's not even level. :|
Sorry for ranting on there. Needless to say, I'm not happy! I really hope the next tenant doesn't have so much bad luck with this all. I hope the landlord has gotten the sense to actually fix it properly (the things he did fix, he did a half job so they'd probably break sooner and cost him even more in the long run.) I quite enjoy this blog/site. It's nice to see things from the other side and does restore my faith a little!
18
Please leave a comment
Want FREE Landlord/Tenant advice from experienced Landlords?
Join our active Landlord community by registering to our Landlord Forum. Learn, share and resolve your problems!
I initially started this website because I wanted to document my every step from property idiot to property landlord,
in hope that people would find my site and help me along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.
1