Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement Question

G_M · 11 June 2017 at 12:59PM

She could:

1) give you an annual periodic tenancy and specify
a) the annual rent and
b) the notice period required (typically 2 months to align with the end of an annual period)
c) and she could specify
i) annual payment in advance
ii) monthly payment of 1/12th of the annual rent to be paid monthly in advance
iii) any other payment regime - but it should be clearly specified

2) a 12 month fixed term (so security for both for a year)
* she could add a Break Clause (eg at 6 months) which removes some security but ads flexibility). Or no Break Clause.
* a monthly rent of £X payable in advance would be normal
* at the end of the fixed term, you and she could agree another 12 month fixed term
* at the end of the 12 months, the tenancy could become monthly periodic - and continue for ever

3) there are other options but not guaranteeing each party an initial 12 month tenancy.

Could she still do a year on year contract but then have a term that says we can give a month's notice at any time if we was to ever want to move

Assuming you mean 'give a months notice at any time, then that would be a Break Clause (see above). But what's the point? That makes the year's contract pointless since you could leave early and she loses the security of 12 months rent which (seems to be) what she wants.

chrisb1357 · 11 June 2017 at 10:39PM

Thanks for the info so far. Seems to be so many options and am not sure what to suggest to her as we are still very interested in the house and am sure she is keen to get someone in paying rent. Just don't want to put her off if I jump straight in with big terms that I would like

Do you think asking for a 12month fixed term contract then rolling onto a monthly periodic is asking for to much??

It states under the Rent Payment the following " Subject to provisions of this agreement, the rent for the property is £525 per month (the "rent")

The Tenant will pay the rent in advance on or before the 1st of each month of the term to the landlord by standing order

The Landlord may increase the rent of the property upon priving the tenant the greater of 90 days notice

G_M wrote: »

She could:

1) give you an annual periodic tenancy and specify
a) the annual rent and
b) the notice period required (typically 2 months to align with the end of an annual period)
C) she could specify
i) annual payment in advance
ii) monthly payment of 1/12th of the annual rent to be paid monthly in advance
iii) any other payment regime - but it should be clearly specified

2) a 12 month fixed term (so security for both for a year)
* she could add a Break Clause (eg at 6 months) which removes some security but ads flexibility). Or no Break Clause.
* a monthly rent of £X payable in advance would be normal
* at the end of the fixed term, you and she could agree another 12 month fixed term
* at the end of the 12 months, the tenancy could become monthly periodic - and continue for ever

3) there are other options but not guaranteeing each party an initial 12 month tenancy.

Assuming you mean 'give a months notice at any time, then that would be a Break Clause (see above). But what's the point? That makes the year's contract pointless since you could leave early and she loses the security of 12 months rent which (seems to be) what she wants.

G_M · 12 June 2017 at 12:43AM

Good grief! She really has not a clue. Did she draft this contract herself, or get Micky Mouse to help her? :rotfl:

chrisb1357 wrote: »

Do you think asking for a 12month fixed term contract then rolling onto a monthly periodic is asking for to much??
This seems fair.

It states under the Rent Payment the following " Subject to provisions of this agreement, the rent for the property is £525 per month (the "rent")
This suggests a monthly periodic, not annual.
* "the rent payable for the property" should relate to the term - ie in an annual tenancy the rent payable for the property is the rent for a year..
* when the rent is due, may be different eg 'rent payable for the property is £4800, payable in 12 monthly installments of £400 on the 1st of each month'

The Tenant will pay the rent in advance on or before the 1st of each month of the term to the landlord by standing order
Fair enough, though becomes messy if the tenancy itself does not start on 1st of the month.......

The Landlord may increase the rent of the property upon priving the tenant the greater of 90 days notice

:eek::eek::eek:

1) if this is a periodic tenancy, then rent can only be altered at the start of a new period:

So if it is an annual periodic, it cannot be increased till the end of each year.
If it is a monthly periodic, then 90 days notice is fine, provided the new rent starts on the 1st day of a period (which may not be 1st of the month if the tenancy starts on a different date!)

2) However the clause is useless since it does not specify by how much the rent can be raised. Any clause allowing a rent increase must be unambiguous both i) as to when (eg at the end of the first 6 months) and ii) by how much ie :

· a cash amount (eg from £500 pm to £540 pm)
· a percentage (eg 3%)
· an amount linked to a recognised index (eg the CPI/RPI – Consumer/Retail Price Index)

If the wording of the clause is vague, or makes it unclear/ambiguous as to when or how much the increase will be, the clause is invalid.

* Rent increases: when & how can rent be increased?

However, I would ignore this problem. Assuming you eventually take up this tenancy, and IF the landlord uses this clause to raise the rent, you can dispute it at that time.

Given how amateur the LL seems to be, what else is going on?

Since 1/10/15, new tenants must receive the 'Prescribed Information':
* government leaflet "how to rent"
* EPC
* Gas Safety Certificate if there's gas
* smoke detectors on each floor
* CO alarm if there's solid fuel heating.

* Since 1/2/16 landlords must check tenants' immigration status.

As for deposits (if she takes one:

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

G_M · 12 June 2017 at 12:55AM

Returning to your original Qs:

chrisb1357 wrote: »

With the wording above it reads to me that the landlord is doing an initial year upfront and then once the first year is over the wording to me reads that she is doing a year to year basis even that we will be paying the rent monthly. Should a periodic tenancy match how the rent is paid so in this case it should be month to month and not year to year.
No, payment frequency does not have to match the tenancy periods.

Also if its a year to year would this mean that we would have to give more than a months notice to leave. So just say 6 months into the 2nd year we wanted to leave would we have to wait until the 12 month or could we just give a month notice
No, you cannot give notice to leave mid-period. So if the periods are year by year, you can only leave at the end of each year.

If you want more flexibility to leave when you wish (more or less & subject to giving notice), either ask for

* a monthly periodic tenancy (written in as the 'Term')
* a 6 month fixed term (followed by either another 6 month fixed term or a monthly periodic)
* an annual fixed term (with a 6 month Break Clause)

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Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement Question

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