Tenancy Agreement “Facts” That Are Completely Wrong

five years ago I moved into a private rented house. I was given a Tenency ?Agreement by the son of the house owner. He was acting for his father who was old and unable to act for himself. At the time, I believed the son to be the house owner. The ?Tenency agree ment was signed by the son as Landlord. In the agreement, it said my rent was fixed and would not be increased. It also said that there is no term of Tenency. The tenentmy resideat the address for as long as they require or until the landlord ends the Tenency due to breach of the contract. I have dealt solely with the son throughout the 5 years, as landlord.
Recently the daughter of the house owner has taken over her fathers dealings. The son has had new windows and door put in. Now his sister has sent me a letter to inform me that due to the improvements the rent will be increased by £70 per month. The letter has been signed by her father who is in an old peoples home, and very infirm. Can she do this? In the circumstances do I have any right of appeal?

Hi, last year I decided to contact a Property Management Company to handle part of my portfolio. What a mistake this was!! In relation to one of my properties there has been nothing but problems. One of the tenancy agreements finished running its 6 month contact - it ended 5 months ago. The tenant did not sign a new contract with the property management company as there fees were too expensive for her - I know that this is fine and runs as a Periodic Tenancy which I am happy with as she wishes to remain in the property. My problem now is that I want to take back over the running of the property - the tenant is happy to sign one of my own contracts which I do not charge for. My problem is that the Property Management Company are stating that I will have to pay their administration charges? During the Periodic Tenancy period they have still been taking out their fees as normal. Can my tenant sign my own agreement and do I have to pay the fees?? Help

quite informative.
maybe you can help here.
i changed my letting agent. tenant owes former agent by not paying rent increase. tenant was warned of increase and tenancy says landlord can increase rent. new rate not in agreement. what is the way forward.

Hi, I got married on 9/7/15. On the 3/8/15 I we had our normal 3 monthly property check. Whilst the estate agent was here the wedding came up in conversation. I have now been told that we have to pay £35 to change our tenancy agreement as my wife has taken my name. Is this right? Seems ridiculous. We have lived here for almost 4 years... nothing has changed other than her name.

Thanks in advance

Hi, I am a student and trying to accommodate myself in a private property belongs to a private landlord through an agent. The agent and the landlord was very picky on who occupies the property and after being agreed to giving the property to me and 2 other students, the agent pressured us requesting the documents to do necessary referencing and gave us a deadline saying if we didn't comply we will loose the property and charges us 150 GBP per person for referencing. Once referencing is complete now the agent is forcing us to sign the contract soon only considering their requirements to lease the property as soon as possible without considering our requirements. Our requirement was to sign the contract and move in by the end of august. And the agent again trying to force us saying that if we didn't sign it now we will loose the property. I feel like this is unfair as this is an agreement between two parties considering the requirements of both parties. Any advice on this matter would be much grateful as I do not know what i should do.

thank you in advance.

@ Linda
So what don't you want to do that the agent are forcing? Do not sign anything until you are happy. Once signed you are legally bound by the t&c's
@ Chris. I don't think you are legally required to do this. Speak to Citizens advice just in case but I do think they are trying to have one over you. Its not a new contract and if any contact details change (as stated within the contract) then this does not result in a new contract so therefore this is no different

HI, we have just agreed to let a property and have spent money on references, etc but have come to the terms & conditions/signing the tenancy agreement and its all changed. We agreed to take the property for a year and it was advertised on rightmove, with the clause "Will be offered initially for 6 months and then on a month to month basis. The property is available from early September 2015 for a 6 month to 2 year occupancy" so we didn't think anything of it but now they have presented us with a 12 month (no get out clause) agreement. We don't want to sign this. Life is life, stuff happens and I'm not at all happy about legally binding myself and money to 12 months with no fall back. We also don't want to lose the property! Can we insist on what was advertised and what we were first told or not? I don't want to lose the money we have spent on references/etc already! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We have to sign tomorrow so PLEASE if anyone can respond by 12pm tomorrow, would be truly truly grateful. Thanks so much

@ Sarah Smith. I'm afraid this is the joys of contract law. An advertisement is not considered an offer. The actual offer is the contract itself. Your acceptance is signing that contract. So you have the choice. Sign it or don't sign it.
If you had intentions of staying for a year I do not see what the problem is.

Hello, I have a few queries. we have always been on 6month agreements with our landlords, (they are amazing landlords!) due to unforeseen circumstances they need to have their property back, that is fine by us as we understand their situation, my question is, they gave us a 2 month tenancy agreement that we all signed along with our two month notice letter, they gave us the agreement so that we would be covered for the period of the notice. we have since then been told by the local council that they can not do this and that EVERY tenancy agreement has to be a minimum of 6 months. we told our landlord what we were told and now she is worried that in two months time she will have no where to live. could someone please enlighten me on what is true and what is false as I have read up on quite a lot over the past couple of days and one article seems to contradict the other so I m slightly confused. we have an ASTs so am I right n thinking that our landlords are well within their rights to take back their property as they HAVE given us our two months notice and have sufficient ground for the purpose of the notice to quit?

Hi Megan,

As far as I am aware a landlord can create an AST for any period they want. What they can't do (and I stand to be corrected here) is serve notice to quit during the initial term (ie the first two months). The law is very confusing especially when it comes to the dates the notices were served.

Your best bet is for your Landlady to contact her Landlord Association (if she is not a member she should be for exactly this situation) or for you to contact your local Citizens Advice Centre as they will let you know where you stand.

I have read up bout the different agreements etc. on the gov web page and as far as I can see the landlord is right and the woman we spoke to is wrong purely because the 2 months agreement we have been given is not within our first 6 months, we have been in the house for just over two years. on the tenancy agreement itself it states that it is a periodic tenancy so can run month to month. The issue we have about leaving the property is that myself and my partner are both signed off work and therefore cant afford all of the admin fees etc to go through another private landlord so we are looking to be put on the council list for one of their homes, if we leave this house voluntarily then we are in their eyes making ourselves intentionally homeless and therefore they can do nothing to help us HOWEVER if the landlord is right and can re-claim her home in two months (end of agreement AND end of notice period) then they can assist us with housing because it is not intentional on our part. we are trying to do this the right way for us so that we get a home and our landlord and her family can have their home back. I would rather this situation be a win win rather than a lose lose. thank you for the replies.

Help,

I was a student but i have withdrawn from my course because i was no longer interested. I had booked a student room for me to move into around the end of septmeber 2015. I cancelled the room around the end of August 2015. I never signed and returned the tenancy agreement as i had already decided i wasn't going back to Uni. They have requested i pay the first term amount of £1650.32 but i never signed the tenancy agreement, only accepted the offer of the room online, paying £1 as a deposit, which they said over the phone "agrees to their terms and conditions". I have already spoken to them on the phone and explained i only work part time and struggle to live on my current salary anyway. Me and my family have never been rich and we struggle everyday and physically cannot afford to pay such a high amount of money. They mentioned i could advertise the room to get someone else to move in and then it would cancel me out and i wouldn't have to pay anything, and they offered to help advertise the room also. They also said i could start paying little bits a month, but i explained this would only be a maximum of £25 a month as that is all i can afford, taking into account everyday things i need to pay for, travel and paying board being the most expensive. I need help and advice on anything else i can say to the student halls when i ring them again to explain my circumstances as i feel i am in a bit of a mess.
Please help
Thanks, Stacey

Before you do anything else, ask for a copy of their terms and conditions and provide you proof of where and when you have agreed to these. Most sites you have to tick a box (or sometimes just continue) and then you agree to their t&c's . Once you have these then you are best to go to citizens advice (because its free)and ask their advise. You don't actually need a signed tenancy agreement for the agreement to be in place. What you need to get straight is at what point you got to in the negotiations to determine if you entered into an agreement and if you are therefore liable. For me personally, I believe the tenancy doesn't commence until they get the keys, deposit paid, first months rent paid. But I cannot say if this is the legal point of the contract commencing however its common sense.
BUT DO NOT PAY A PENNY UNTIL YOU GET IT SORTED AS YOU ARE THEN ADMITTING LIABILITY !!!!!!

Hi we've signed our tenancy agreement about a week ago and were due to collect the keys in 2 days time .However we received a text from him today stating that he needed references before we can proceed to move in. Where do I stand? Is this not a legal contract basically stating that we were wanting to live in his house and him alowwing and accepting us as tennants?

A letting agent is trying to seal us in to another 12.month contract, she says we can only do 12 month, nothing longer. It is a managed property therefore we have no contact for the landlord to maybe arrange something between us, my question is.. what are our rights in knowing the landlords details, do we have to enter in to another 12 month contract with letting agent at a cost?

Hi
I moved in on the 19th Feb 2014,In Aug 14 my salary pay date changed ,so I asked the letting agents if I could change my rent date to the 29th,now their saying I'm in arrears by the 10 day difference is this correct

hi I recently started renting a property in decemeber 2015. after living here for more than 5 months I decided it was not for me and was hoping to leave in june 2016 after my 6 months contract was up. so I decided to contact my letting agent 2 months in advance to give my notice and give the landlord plenty of time to find a new tenant however when I called I was then told my contract was actually 12 months, even though when I signed the tenancy agreement I asked the letting agent is this a year contract and they replied no you can only do a six month contract, lesson well learnt always check the dates on your tenancy agreement !!. anyways they have agreed to let me leave if we can find a new tenant to enter the property before my 12 months is up. I was just wondering where I stand and if by law I am aloud to give them 2 months notice? my DPS certificate says the tenancy period is only 6 months too so any advice would be very grateful thanks

Can anyone halp when i moved into my new house i signed a tenancy for 580 ,the landlord later came an said i would get more housing paid ,i did say i would not he said we will put a new 1 for 880 in and see ,now they will not pay like i said they would not ,now he is saying as the rent is not payed he is taking me to Court ,where do i stand

I've recently bought a house that a group of students will be moving into in September. The tenancy agreement they signed was with the previous owner.

Am I in my rights to ask them to sign my own tenacy agreement, obviously with different stipulations?

Also, the previous owner did not request a deposit. Again can I ask for a deposit? In other words is the first agreement null and void given the change of house ownership?

I am coming to the end of a fixed 6 month contract which is due to end on 26 August. My rent is paid on the 20th of each month (a month in advance) my contract says that I must give two months notice if I want to leave at the end of the contract. If I give notice on the 20th August to leave on the 19th September (therefore ensuring my month is fully paid) is this acceptable?

Hi Jodie,

If you don't sign a new contract when your existing agreement expires, you'll automatically enter a Statutory Periodic Tenancy, which only requires one month's notice from the tenant, so it shouldn't be a problem. Your best bet is to let your landlord know your intentions as soon as possible so that he can start to make arrangements for finding a new tenant.

Hello,

Does anyone know whether a Tenancy agreement that was signed between my tenant and an agent is valid - even though I no longer pay or use the agent to manage the property? my tenant has variously claimed that is is legally binding and that it is not legally binding - he has also declined to sign a new agreement that I have twice sent to him.

thanks

I paid £400 pounds deposit to hold a double bedroom for 3 weeks..when I move in the property the landlord says that the deposit is finish and I only paid to hold the room and said I won't get money back and said if I want to give money for deposit I can give money for deposit. When I started to move into the house the rent was £400 pounds the day when am paying the first rent the landlord said it's £430 pounds.,he said I can use washing machine as much as I like but I can't cook at night.when I first moved in I was harassed not to use the shower until after 10pm because landlord and his woman go bed at 9.30pm and I can't use shower when they're in the house all day,I can't cook and I finish work at 8pm nightly,but 6am landlord is cooking,I can only use washing machine once a week to wash clothes and only cook once a week. Everything has been switched around after I moved in.,Landlord doesn't want to give receipt when you pay the rent in cash,he doesn't want to give bank account number to pay the rent,so I have to buy my own rent book and record the rent each month...now am seeking a place for a peace of mind because it's horrible living with a living landlord who is 77 from Greece and his common law wife who is 44 from Romania..I didn't sign any agreement when I moved in so how much notice I need to give living landlord to move out.I have been treated unfair and also been harassed by his mistress..I don't have privacy cooking everything is a problem.

I rent a property that was advertised for £725 a month , i have been occupying the property for 9month , I received a phone call from the letting agency saying that the agreement that I signed was for £750 a month they are now trying to claim the difference from me , I still have a copy of the ad , were do I stand !

Hi Marion,

Do you also have a copy of the tenancy agreement? How long was it for? Obviously it would be handy if you'd read the contract when you signed it but then again it doesn't look like the agent did either! Given that they've been accepting £725 per month for nine months without calling your attention to the discrepancy, you could argue estoppel - by their actions they've given you cause to believe that that is the correct amount and therefore they can't retrospectively claim something different now. For the sake of a couple of hundred quid they probably won't pursue it if you are firm with them.

Thanks Simon , no I don't have a copy , and the agreement finished in September !

Hi,

When my tenancy was "up for renewal" I specifically asked and was advised that the only options were for a 6 month or a year renewal. I was not aware at this time that my tenancy would become periodic.

I subsequently signed up for another year and now have 7 months left in a house i do not want to remain in.

Am I now bound to stay or could this new fixed term tenancy be voided?

A landlord isn't obliged to offer you the option of a statutory periodic tenancy, so there are no grounds to void the contract. Speak to your landlord, though. You may well be able to reach a compromise.

Hi, I have been renting a room from a Lady by the week for about 2 mos. I never signed a contract I mentioned for legal purposes we need one but never got one. I was away for 2 weeks working but still paying rent and while I was gone she claims someone kicked her door in which I saw no damage and all of my valuables were stolen. She did not tell me a word about this until I had to come home and find everything gone...60" LG plasma tv,my laptop,about 2,000.00 in tools, and several more items I have the serial #s on the tv and some tools maybe even laptop. I was unaware for almost 2 wks and imagined my belongings were long gone I was curious but just now found out I still have rights without contract and having verbal agreement .that is not the end of it I kept paying rent because that is what I agreed on but stayed elsewhere for about a week because I was upset and clueless of what to do then had nowhere else to go so had to go back and stay ,the 2nd night I was back she had a thug friend over and I went to bed shut my door had purse in bed with me and when I woke up door open and purse gone I walked outside and my car was gone she claims her friend must've stolen it! So I've been out over 10,000.00 in possessions and I don't know what to do I'm screwed can't even get to work and I know she was in on it none of her things were touched either time what can I legally do ? I did get my car back 2 wks later but it's been demolished the cops are no help.please give me some info on my rights I'm so screwed it's so unfair she also has homeowners insurance

Hello,

Please can someone offer me some advice. I currently let my property to a family through a letting agency. They moved into the property in July 2016.
I have rented my house out now for 4 years, on an AST basis. All previous tenancy applications have asked to rent for a period of between 12-18 months. All previous contracts were automatically reviewed at six months, in which we were contacted to see if we wanted to carry on letting the house.

Do to unforeseen circumstances, I need to sell the property, but the estate agents have told me I cannot, as the contract is for two years (fixed term) and is not under review, as I have not asked for a break clause?

I have never requested a break clause before, and have never been asked if I want to include one. The previous tenant was an absolute nightmare that we served notice to under section 21. We learnt a lot of lessons with that tenants, and there is no way we would ever enter into a fixed term agreement of two years following such a bad experience.

The estate agent have took it upon themselves to fix term the contract for two years without review after 6 months, which I naturally presumed would still apply. They have basically told me its tough and I have no chance of serving notice.

I asked for a copy of the tenancy agreement as they have never sent it to me. I have never seen it before and it does say it is fixed! I am so upset about this as if I had known this I would not have agreed to it.

I did not sign the paperwork the letting agency did in our absence.

I am devastated here.

That seems an odd thing for an agent to do deliberately. Normally it's in their interests to keep rental terms short so that they can try to dip you for renewal fees once or twice a year, plus the possibility of tenant find fees on a more regular basis.

As to what you can do about it, that depends on the wording of your agreement with the agent. Given that they wrote it, it probably gives them a ridiculous amount of freedom to act without consulting you but it's worth going through it to check.

You can, of course, sell the property with the tenants in situ but this will almost certainly affect the value. You may also be able to come to an amicable agreement with your tenants. Again, this is likely to involve substantial cost unless the tenants happen to want to leave in the near future anyway.

Is the agent a member of ARLA or similar?

Just bought a property which is tenanted. Seller was Mrs X but the AST has named Mr X her husband as the landlord and he has signed it. In fact just before exchange they entered into a new AST for 18 months at a low rent - am I stuck with this- I assume so. Again it is the husband who is stated as the landlord, not her.

Can a agreement have a broke clause that only satisfy landloard, such as 24months with if leave early tenant pay 10% for each month left?
Is that a normal clause ? Shall i accept or ask for a break clause?

Bullshit alert!

David 9th June, 2017 @ 21:15

It is a legal requirement for the Landord's full name and address to be named in your tenancy agreement.

Hi, I've rented my property from the landlord for over four years. It has just been on a rolling contract after my initial contract ended which was fine. He now wants me to sign a new six month contract, again fine for me and my boys as we want to stay. He has though stated he may want to sell the property next year after the new contract ends, but then again he said he may not. I feel as though my mind is being played with and don't feel settled at all - I need him to make a decision so we can all be happy. My questions are:

If he ends the contract at the end of the agreement, should the two months notice come before the end of the tenancy agreement has expired or could he leave it rolling and then give me notice to quit sometime later on?

As he may want to sell, he spoke about doing the house up - can we refuse while we live here as we're asthmatic, my son will be doing his GCSE's at that time and I'm studying for a full time degree as well as working part time . Are we entitled to peace as we'll be studying for exams at that time.

If I could afford it, I would already have moved out.i am on the council waiting list but I can't make myself homeless, I'd have to wait on him giving me notice to quit.

I just need to know as it's not fair to be living In limbo land and not being able to plan a future properly. Are there any laws that prevents a landlord chopping and changing his mind instead of being definite about what he wants to do at the end of the tenancy agreement?

Thanks in advance

For five years we rented a home. We paid every 2 weeks because it made it easier on our budget. The landlord sold the house we found a new one. We explained to the new landlord what we had done in the past and he said that was fine with him. We walk the money down the street to his house and hand it to him. Now we get a text message from a lady who works at a rental agency saying that this is not good enough anymore and if we cannot pay the full month's rent they will make it a month-to-month basis and we can move out. Since I have accepted the money already is it a binding contract we've been here 2 months have not been late

I have rented a commercial property for the last five years, we haven’t had a signed contract in place for the last 2.5 years due to damp problems at the property which we have tried on. Numerous occasions to resolve. My business partner has left because of the problems we are having and i have to leave the property because i just cant run my business from there any longer. I spoke with my landlord today who agreed to let me leave on the 04/03/2018, this conversation was then followed by an email telling me that he now doesnt agree with the verbal agreement and that i have to give three months notice. Is my tenancy now legally a periodic contract (rent paid monthly) as there are no roll over clauses or any other clauses to say anything other? So confused, I am leaving a great business because of the premises not being suitable and my landlord is threatening me with court action if i leave. Any helpful advice would be fantastic.

I’ve recently moved into a property (a week ago) with a 7 month initial lease and I hate it, the neighbours upstairs are friendly enough but a lot younger than me and make more noise than I feel comfortable living below. The letting agent failed to inform me of this and had they have done so I’d never have agreed to lease. Is there anyway of getting out a lease so early in or am I just going to have to suck it up for the next 6 months!

I paid a landlord one months rent in advance £650 signed tennancy agreement 01/05/2018. The LL since then keeps making excuses why I can't move into property saying can have keys in a week then the following week, obviously I want to move in asap then on 18/05/2018 LL sent a txt telling me deals off I can no longer move in then another text straight after stating he will give money back but doesn't know when. I have spoke to him rang him he hangs up gets aggressive and now is saying not going to pay me back or let me move into property.

can anyone help.... i have been a good tenant and resided at my previous property for nearly two years. i paid a deposit of £700 for my 12month tenancy agreement. this expired and i asked the letting agent if i needed to renew my contract and was told not to worry as it will be on a rolling contract, this expired end of aug16. a year on i was make redundant and also suffer from health issues which my agent was aware off. the landlord was not informed by the agent that i was not working, Q1, why would the agent keep that info to themselves ?... i was served with an eviction notice as i was unemployed for sometime and as a result fell behind on my rent by a month. we agreed that i could pay an extra £100 a month to clear the balance. (note my rent was not all inclusive - so gas, elect, water, council tax etc etc was all added on top of my £700 a month payments hence why i feel behind in the first instance. the landlady sent me a section 8 which included evicton, and some other misleading the courts claims against me which included anti-social behavior & even terriorism act (yes they even included that too - are they forreal - i guesss to highten the case somehow) this was extremely stressfull for me as i have a very rare syndrome which can put me in hospital at any given time. so this stress was not needed as i suffer from depression also. the landlord gave me 2months to leave by end of nov17... as we all know leaving a property whilst not working and having to find deposit for a new property and also paying rent bills etc etc was impossible. to the point. i have moved dec17 and been paying rent to my new landlord. i recent received an email from a deposit protecion agency stating the landlord wants to claim a deposit i though i had already lost due to having to move property. but the DPS only has details regarding my initial signed 12month agreement which ended end of aug16,, Q2,... can the agent/LL claim this deposit as unpaid rent of £700 during this signed tenancy my rent was fully paid up to date as at 31/08/16... this is the date in refernce to the claim for my deposit... we are now in july18... please advise

Hi, we have rented the same property for 3 and a half years. After a year and a half the owner asked us if we would mind cutting out the agent and just having a month on month agreement which we agreed. Although we signed an agreement with the agent, does this apply now we have a private agreement? We only have the deposit scheme in place not, not a written agreement. Our landlord is saying that some of the carpets are thinning etc. and I have read that if we don't have a signed agreement that he cannot withold the bond. Any advice would be helpful

Hi I am having to leave my tenancy early due to poor health and the property not being suitable as In it’s got 4 flights of stairs and I have recently suffered with breathing difficulties and arthritis. The council have said they will give me a bungalow which will make it a lot easier for me, but the landlord is saying that I will need to pay him for the 5 years left on the tenancy agreement. Can anyone help?

Ok quick one, I move out from the property I rented and the agency took me to court, I accepted to pay the arrears in court, but i didn’t sign or renew my contract after it expired but the court is asking me to pay their court fees?
But I have to disput some other amount they added to my rents, I just want to know since I didn’t sign any new contracts with them should I be paying for the agency court fees cos they say I breach the contract? The court have me 14 days to disputes the other amount added I want to know if I should let the court know I didn’t abide to any new contract with them so I won’t be paying for the agency court fees, some please help!!!!

Reassuring to be able to discuss with other landlords or landladies

I rent a property,but the landlord has been stripped of his license by r.s.and has been told he cannot have anything to do with the tenants or rents and I have been informed that I cannot pay any monies to him but he has now seven me with a section 8

Hello

I need help.

I paid 6 months upfront because I had no guarantor.

Before the end of 6 months, a new agent took over and I communicated my intention to stay in the apartment and pay monthly.

But the agent insist I must pay another 6 months upfront. Is this legal? I don't have that much and its unplanned for.

Thanks