My son has just signed a tenancy! I have a few questions

Mother_soontobe_Teacher

Hiya, my son is moving into a rented house next week and we have a few questions.


He went into the letting agents office today to sign the contract to save time next week and he was given a copy unfortunately, as he let me and his father read it once he got back, we have raised a few issues.


1) The copy he has is only signed by him and not the letting agent on behalf of the landlords which is states it should be - should he insist on a fully signed contract before he pays his fees and collects the keys?


2) The letting agent said him today about tenancy liability insurance. He made out to my son this is a 'must'. But is it? His father and I are not so sure and a bit unfair to just spring this out on him now!


and now the major worry!


3) There is an extra heading titled "Individually Negotiated Clauses" in which it states:

This fixed term agreement may be brought to an end by either party by providing a minimum of two month written notice to the other (such notice not to expire any earlier than the expiry date of this fixed term Agreement). At the end of such notice the tenancy shall end and all obligations and responsibilities shall cease subject nevertheless to any claim by either party against the other in respect of any breach of any of the terms and conditions of the agreement. For the avoidance of doubt once the notice referred to in this clause has been exercised it cannot be revoked under any circumstance

Is this normal for a contract. I find it shocking that my son is signing a 12 month contract but there is a clause to say that actually, it does not have to be 12 months at all - there is nothing fixed about it. I am not sure why the landlords have felt the need to add this into the contract - it just worries me they may be planning to chuck my son out at some point! But, to use this as a positive, could someone please confirm that also, this works the other way and if my son wanted to move out say end of June - given that he gives two months written warning, he is legally ok to do this.


Many thanks for any advice and replies - from a worried, over protective mother!

Guest101

It doesn't say that.

Tenants insurance is good to have, but not a must have. You can't be forced to claim on it.

U should get, but don't have to, a signed copy.

And it says that after 12 months both parties give 2 months notice to end the contract. The whole paragraph has been written by a letting agent ( u can tell because it's meaningless mostly)

Guest101

Oh and ps congrats on getting your house back! I've got 16 years till I get rid of my cheeky sods!

Voyager2002

Mother_soontobe_Teacher wrote: »

Hiya, my son is moving into a rented house next week and we have a few questions.


He went into the letting agents office today to sign the contract to save time next week and he was given a copy unfortunately, as he let me and his father read it once he got back, we have raised a few issues.


1) The copy he has is only signed by him and not the letting agent on behalf of the landlords which is states it should be - should he insist on a fully signed contract before he pays his fees and collects the keys?


2) The letting agent said him today about tenancy liability insurance. He made out to my son this is a 'must'. But is it? His father and I are not so sure and a bit unfair to just spring this out on him now!


and now the major worry!


3) There is an extra heading titled "Individually Negotiated Clauses" in which it states:

This fixed term agreement may be brought to an end by either party by providing a minimum of two month written notice to the other (such notice not to expire any earlier than the expiry date of this fixed term Agreement). At the end of such notice the tenancy shall end and all obligations and responsibilities shall cease subject nevertheless to any claim by either party against the other in respect of any breach of any of the terms and conditions of the agreement. For the avoidance of doubt once the notice referred to in this clause has been exercised it cannot be revoked under any circumstance [/quote[


Is this normal for a contract. I find it shocking that my son is signing a 12 month contract but there is a clause to say that actually, it does not have to be 12 months at all - there is nothing fixed about it. I am not sure why the landlords have felt the need to add this into the contract - it just worries me they may be planning to chuck my son out at some point! But, to use this as a positive, could someone please confirm that also, this works the other way and if my son wanted to move out say end of June - given that he gives two months written warning, he is legally ok to do this.


Many thanks for any advice and replies - from a worried, over protective mother!

Your final concerns seems groundless: the passage you quote says "such notice not to expire any earlier than the expiry date of this fixed term Agreement" so the bit about two month's notice only applies to what happens after the year is over.

RAS

is the rented house in England, Wales or Scotland as the law is different?

dimbo61

Your son is moving into a rented house ! Student or working ?
Is he renting the whole property by himself or as part of a group ?
Renting a room and use of bathroom, kitchen, living room with others ?
On the day he moves in take photos of every room and walls, flooring, marks and damage etc.
Read the meters if he is responsible for the bills, has, electric, water, broadband etc and then contact the utility companies.
If he is given a check in Inventory then note down every mark on the walls, dirt, condition of oven, check everything works, make sure you have a gas safe certificate, proof the deposit has been registered ( check online yourself )
An damage, marks, faults with electrics, appliances then sit down at the computer and write a letter, print three copies and post two copies to Landlord and Letting agents.
Follow up with emails but you must send a letter from the post office with proof of posting ( not recorded )

gardengull

Take photographs of the meters to back up readings and post on Facebook or twitter, so you can prove the date they were taken.
Do check everything works, including the oven, hot water, all plug sockets and locks. They will check all of this when he moves out, so if he doesn't point out any faults, he will be paying to repair them in 12 months.

Get the locks changed as you don't know who still has a key!
Make sure his deposit is correctly protected in a deposit scheme (lots of threads on MSE with advice on this).

My parents made me a hamper of cleaning products & cloths as a house warming present - just a thought!

booksurr

there are often 2 things which a LL will try to include in a contract:
1. a desire that the tenant "must" give formal notice if they wish to leave at the end of the fixed term of the contract
and/or
2. a "break clause" allowing the contract to be terminated unilaterally by one party giving notice to the other in accordance with specific contractual conditions

in the majority of cases both clauses are so badly worded they are unenforceable gibberish. Often this is caused by using a clause from a standard document in isolation without the supporting clauses/context , or a clause which is relevant where there is a 6 month fixed term is used irrelevantly on a 12 month contract

In your case it is indeed gibberish because:

a) it is categorically a 12 month fixed term. The contract will end at the end of 12 months :doh:, there is no other possibility, you have not listed anything which defines the ability to extend so it simply ends naturally. Therefore the clause requiring 2 months notice which must expire after the end of the contract is utterly meaningless. If the intent is to "force" your son to give 2 months notice of the fact he will not be wanting to renew/extend then the clause does not achieve that purpose. If there was an additional clause stating that after 12 months the contract would continue as a Contractual Periodic Tenancy unless notice was given then there would be some purpose to it, but as such additional clause is not there it is gibberish

b) if the purpose is to establish a break clause then the same applies, it is a 12 month contract and the clause cannot be timed to apply before month 12, at which point the contract has ended anyway so it cannot then be broken as it no longer exists

So IMHO your son is tied to a 12 month fixed period with no unilateral ability to leave before then, nor can the LL terminate before then - except if he wins a court case over rent arrears etc of course.

If your son wants to leave at month 12 he can just walk out, although it is of course polite to let the LL / LA know of his intentions so they can find a replacement tenant but the contract does not force him to do this

If your son wants to stay on after 12 months then either he negotiates a new contract or he gets the LL to accept him on Statutory Periodic Tenancy terms - neither eventuality is covered by "the clause"

Mother_soontobe_Teacher

Wow! what incredibly helpful people! Thank you so much!


I am glad to see that the extra clause is rubbish! I wonder why they added it in the first place as it was not in the original contract, it was in a sub-heading of extra things the landlord requested! but your amazing advice has made me feel a lot better! thank you again!!!!!!!!


Thank you for all the other bits of advice too! very helpful about taking the pictures etc.


For peoples information he will be a "mature" student, studying a PGCE (Like his mum actually but different age group), and he will be living alone (was going to live with his girlfriend but now she's only staying with him for a few days a week).


Thank you again

dimbo61

Is his course 12 months long ?
We rent to groups of students and ask them to sign a contract for 12 months with Half rent in July and August.
Are you acting as Guarantor ?

Mother_soontobe_Teacher

dimbo61 wrote: »

Is his course 12 months long ?
We rent to groups of students and ask them to sign a contract for 12 months with Half rent in July and August.
Are you acting as Guarantor ?

It is not, it ends in June/July but though he has not said as much, I think he thinks this is the right time to move away from mummy and daddy anyway! so this is much more than a student house for him. I am not a Guarantor, they have not asked for one.