Received a draft tenancy agreement- Help

booksurr

Innys1 wrote: »

I don't see what's pedantic about timing it for exactly 365 days, as opposed to 366. If the tenant feels they are being diddled out of a day that they want, they shouldn't agree to the tenancy, simple as that.

i was responding to the fact that all the posters before me thought that noon on 25 to noon on 24th was 1 day short of a 12 month tenancy, my point is that it isn't

the LL/ LA in this case has made sure it isn't, whether deliberately or by accident we cannot say. However the fact remains the agreement is for 365 days not 364 as stated by previous posters and if the OP tries to argue that as per his post # 8 he will look a fool

I would suggest that taking account of leap years is a matter of pedantry as I don't think many LL would go to that level.

greensalad

Yes, it's true that it would depend on whether it's determined as a 12 month tenancy or just a set amount of time. A LL could specify a tenancy to last any amount of time, like 4 months and 2 days, if they so chose (and you signed up for it).

You also get the problem that a 12 month tenancy needs to specify how the month is calculated. Is a month taken to be a calendar month? In which case, the lack of day from the leap year doesn't matter as it just means February is a little shorter. If the tenancy says '12 calendar months' then you ARE still being shortchanged a day because the leap-day doesn't make a different (12 calendar months doesn't specify 365 days).

His_Dudeness

A 'month' is a calendar month.

A leap year has one extra day, so a tenancy for a year or 12 months during a leap has one extra day. If anything it is the tenant who benefits.

I fear this is going into hair-splitting.

G_M

Leap year is a red herring.

It is either

* a 12 month contract (OP has still not said whether "12 months" is mentioned anywhere) in which case leap year has no effect except to give the tenant an extra free day
or
* the tenancy runs from the specified start date/time to the specified end date/time, and likewise as above

booksurr

G_M wrote: »

Does the lease specify 12 months? Or does it just give the start & end time/date?

If it just gives the dates, then it is perfectly valid, though as Pixie says, it is a tenancy of 12 months - 1 day. Nothing wrong with that.

G_M wrote: »

Leap year is a red herring.

It is either

* a 12 month contract (OP has still not said whether "12 months" is mentioned anywhere) in which case leap year has no effect except to give the tenant an extra free day
or
* the tenancy runs from the specified start date/time to the specified end date/time, and likewise as above

as above that is not what you said first time, it is not 12 months - 1 day. It is a tenancy which is 365 days long because of the leap year and therefore under your second option does not include a "free day"

people who said it is 12 months - 1 day are wrong and given the OP's post #8 says he is going to complain about their logic not adding up that would immediately be refuted as it obviously does add up to 365 days.
I agree it is pedantic, hair splitting and that there are several ways to count "a year"

G_M

noon 25th Aug 15 to noon 24th Aug 16 is 12 months - one day.

Whether the 12 months is 365 or 366 days long is irrelevant.

Just as if rent is 500 per month, one does not differentiate betwen months of 30 days and months of 31 days. So in a 1 year/12 month contract one does not differentiate between leap years and non leap years.

V6Matt - does the contract say anywhere that it is a 12 month contract, or not?

martindow

V6Matt wrote: »

like 10% on any repairs that were our fault and half an inventory fee of £140 ! I fully expect to challenge these, but if there are any estate agency come of ethics I can quote...would be appreciated.

Do you mean if you cause damage of £100 you will be charged £110? I wouldn't worry about this and let the deposit scheme sort it out - it looks like an unfair term to me. Or better still cause no damage and get all of your deposit back!