Tenancy renewal

glider26

Hi,

My wife and I are coming up to the end of our 1-year tenancy agreement. This was done through a letting agent. We are however on good terms with the LL with whom we got in touch directly to suggest that we deal directly with each other. The LL declined as she prefers to have a LA oversee issues but she appreciates that we fixed a handful of minor issues ourselves. As a result when the renewal contract came through, we were pleased to notice that the monthly rent was staying constant and not being increased by RPI or CPI. We were however not pleased to notice that the LA is charging us £77 for renewing the contract, even though all they did was send us a couple of A4 sheets to sign. Is this normal and is there a way of negociating this away?

As it happens, the 12V transformer that supplies the bathroom fan has just failed. I'm an able-enough DIYer to diagnose that the problem is with the primary coil (not mendable) and could easily order and replace the transformer for approx £30. The alternative is to get the LA to send in an electrician which will easily cost them 3 times as much with call-out fees etc. Should I offer to take care of it myself in exchange for them dropping the £77 renewal fee or is that weird? Do LA tend to pay electricians etc on per-job basis, are these costs passed down to the LL or does the LA just have a maintenance contract on an annual rate for all the properties that they manage? Cheers.

clutton_2

i wou ld not allow any tenant to do anything with electrics..... as legally i am responsible if there is a subsequent problem....

LAs have no money for maintainance, it all comes from the LL

so all you can do is ask the LL to ask the LA if they can reduce the fee

or dont sign the new agreement and stay on a periodic tenancy

LydiaJ

Hi glider26 and welcome to the forum.

Clutton's advice about a periodic tenancy is the best thing to do. Basically, there is absolutely no need for you to renew your tenancy agreement. Any AST (assured shorthold tenancy) will automatically become a periodic tenancy after the end of its initial term. To make this happen, you have to do.... nothing at all. The periodic tenancy will then continue indefinitely, until either you or the LL gives notice. You have to give one month's notice, and the LL has to give two months' notice, in both cases corresponding with your rent day of the month.

If your LL is already disposed to regard you as a good tenant, then they will want to keep you. Being on a periodic tenancy therefore gives you very little risk of being asked to leave, and a lot more flexibility when you choose to move on. It also stops the LA screwing you (and maybe also the LL) for ludicrous fees that they do very little to earn.

I signed a 6 month agreement in July 2005 and have been on periodic since the first 6 months expired. I'm now looking to buy and have the flexibility of only having to give a month's notice. The EAs love me for being chain free, but it would be a lot more complicated if I could only get out of the tenancy at 6 or 12 month intervals.

Hope that helps.