Tenancy agreements

When letting out a property a Tenancy Agreement is used. This is the name given to the contract which exists between the landlord and tenant. A contract is the intention to create a legal relationship both parties must agree to be legally tied to the agreement made.

It is vital that you have a comprehensive tenancy agreement in place. At Morgan Randall our contracts have been drafted by legal professionals. There are two types of tenancy agreements used depending on certain criteria relating to your tenancy. These are explained in more detail below.

Assured Shorthold Tenancies.

Since 1998 The Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) Agreement has been the standard form of tenancy for most residential tenancies. The most important aspect of this type of tenancy is that the Landlord has a right to get his property back at the end of the tenancy. There is certain criteria which must be satisfied in order for the tenancy to form an AST.

The key points of the AST are:

• A landlord cannot seek possession of the property until a minimum period of six months has elapsed unless the tenant has breached the Agreement in which case landlord can seek possession through the court using a Section 8 notice to initiate proceedings.
• The property is the tenant’s only or main (principal) home.
• The landlord is not a resident landlord (where the property has been converted from one unit and the landlord occupies one of those units).
• The rent is less than £25,000 per annum.
• The tenant is an individual or group of individuals (not a company, trust or charity).
• Tenancies that do not satisfy all the above criteria are not covered by the Housing Act.

Common Law Tenancies (non-Housing Act tenancy agreements)

A Tenancy that falls outside of the guidelines stipulated by the Housing Act (1988) are known to form a common law tenancy. These are governed by general contract law and common law rather than legislation.

These are sometimes referred to using different names however at Morgan Randall should your tenancy be defined as a non-Housing Act tenancy, we will issue you with a comprehensive tenancy agreement. Like all contracts, they are recognised in court, and one party can bring legal action against the other if they breach the contract.

What Tenancy Agreements do Morgan Randall use?

Our Tenancy Agreement’s are extremely comprehensive and are regularly updated in line with new legislation and policy. Rest assured when your property is let out through us, you have an extensive Agreement in place to fall back on if necessary. When letting out your property we will automatically qualify which agreement is to be used and present you with a professionally produced tenancy agreement.

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