Renting and no contract yet advice please

abbiedabbie

I bought a flat for my daughter to live in and her uni friend and my daughter moved back home and the friend gives me a small sum of money as she wants to keep the flat with no definite date to leave. How should I proceed if I want her to move out. We have. no contract. Any help appreciated

Pixie5740

It sounds like your tenant has a statutory periodic tenancy so you would just issue a section 21 notice which gives the tenant 2 months notice.

abbiedabbie

Thanks for replying. Should I have issued a contract?

Pixie5740

It would have been handy but it's not necessary. As soon as you started accepting rent a tenancy agreement was formed.

[Deleted User]

I would write to her giving her a set date from which you intend to increase the rent to market value and issue a tenancy agreement. If she can't agree to this, she will have to move out.

If no tenancy agreement, I would have thought that there is nothing to tie either of you although I know there is some feeling that the fact that you have been accepting 'rent' could be called some kind of contract. However, I would have thought that as there could be no time period that this implied agreement is to cover would go in your favour.

You might be better off going for one half hour appointment with a specialist solicitor though. It could save you money in the long run.

BitterAndTwisted

If you are receiving rent (which I'm assuming you're declaring to HMRC) then there is an implied contract even where there is no signed documentation. She pays rent to you and gets somewhere to live in exchange.

Issue a Section 21 Notice giving her two complete rental-period's notice. Doing this during the holidays could mean that it might be difficult to find somewhere else during the uni/college year as most tenancies end during the summer recess. Does she deserve to be treated so unkindly?

abbiedabbie

No she doesn't need to be treated unkindly and I would obviously discuss with her and hope she can arrange further accommodation. I don't work and will declare the income. Just wondered if I should have done anything legally binding before they moved in.

RAS

Think we need to separate out the situations here.

1. Flat bought for daughter. Daughter moves in and also has a friend living there. Friend is probably a lodger with minimal rights.

2. Daughter moves out; is she intending to return to the property any time (after the summer??). Friend stays; if she has the sole tenancy and you have accepted rent, then she has a AST and you are both bound by the law. You really need to get wised up fast.

1. Is there gas? If so, do you have a Gas Safety Certifiate?
2. Did you take any deposit? Is this secured in a scheme as required by law?
3. Presumably this is leasehold? Does your lease allow you to rent out the property to a tenant?
4. How long ago did the friend gain sole tenancy? Is she paying market rent?

abbiedabbie

RAS wrote: »

Think we need to separate out the situations here.

1. Flat bought for daughter. Daughter moves in and also has a friend living there. Friend is probably a lodger with minimal rights.

2. Daughter moves out; is she intending to return to the property any time (after the summer??). Friend stays; if she has the sole tenancy and you have accepted rent, then she has a AST and you are both bound by the law. You really need to get wised up fast.

1. Is there gas? If so, do you have a Gas Safety Certifiate?
2. Did you take any deposit? Is this secured in a scheme as required by law?
3. Presumably this is leasehold? Does your lease allow you to rent out the property to a tenant?
4. How long ago did the friend gain sole tenancy? Is she paying market rent?

Thanks for replying

Yes there are gas and electricity certificates I got done.
I didn't take a deposit
No I bought the flat with savings
Only in September they moved in, daughter moved home this month

Not sure what to do, I think I will ask her what she wants to do, I was assuming when Uni ends she was wanting to go home but not sure

BitterAndTwisted

Your daughter has moved out of the flat and is now permanently living at home, not just for the Easter holidays?

Issue her with a Section 21 Notice asap! Two rental-periods notice. From and to dates of the periods are calculated from the day that she moved in.

G_M

Pixie5740 wrote: »

It sounds like your tenant has a statutory periodic tenancy so you would just issue a section 21 notice which gives the tenant 2 months notice.

Wrong.

When daughter moved out leaving the friend
a) in sole occupation and
b) paying rent
an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) was created. The only reason for written contract is to include any special terms/conditions, and to avoid doubt/misunderstandings.

But an AST exists, documented or not.

Since there appears to havebeen no agreement about the length of the AST Fixed Term) either written or oral, it simply runs month by month, so is a Contractual Periodic AST.

To end it, a S21 Notice () (a ) must be served, running for 2 complee periods (ie 2 months, but ending on same date as the monthly period). See

[FONT=&quot]Example S21(1)(b) & S21(4)(a)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Notices

[/FONT]Of course, if she agrees to move out earlier, this is fine too (mutual agreement). Confirm it in writing.

And see:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)
[FONT=&quot]

Yes there are gas and electricity certificates I got done.

A landlords gas safety certificate? Still in date (they last 1 years)?

See also

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]New Landlords[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (information for new or prospective landlords)[/FONT]
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