Letting property for 4 months?

aimex

Hi all,

My parents' friends are going travelling for 4 months and have found someone who would like to rent their home for this time whilst they are away. They would like to enter into a tenancy agreement for this, but as far as i was aware the shortest was 6 months...? does anyone have a precedent document for a shorter tenancy agreement?

thanks

benood

I don't think there is a minimum period any longer.

Have a look at letlink - http://www.letlink.co.uk/letting-factsheets/factsheets/factsheet-19---assured-shorthold-tenancy-agreements.html

They seem to have quite a bit of information.

I personally wouldn't set up a tenancy without a solicitor's input.

real1314

You can write an agreement for less than 4 months, but it won't stand up in court. The tenant can stay for 6 months if they wish to, and the law will back them.

aimex

really, i have not heard of this real1314, thats interesting.have any links to any articles or anything about it?

thanks guys xx

teeni

A fixed term tenancy is for 6 months automatically however you can have a periodic tenancy from the start say on a weekly basis, with no fixed term the landlord can issue a s 21 notice with the tenancy agreement if they wanted to advising that they want possession on such and such a date. if tenants do not leave they can them start court proceedings after expiry of the notice.

Not advisable to do this without legal assistance as getting it wrong could cause a lot of heart ache and and money.

it is not as easy to get right as you might think

real1314

"For tenancies starting on or after 28 February 1997

The landlord does not have to agree an initial fixed term but may do so
if you both agree. The fixed term may be for less than six months if you
agree. Or the tenancy can be set up as a periodic tenancy from the outset.
However, the landlord does not have a guaranteed right to possession during the first 6 months of the tenancy, even if you agreed a fixed term of less than 6 months or a periodic tenancy from the outset. The landlord can, however, seek possession during this period on one of the grounds for possession set out in Appendix C."

see here: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138289

paintpot

Another thing to consider, it is a legal requirement for landlords to have a gas certificate on the property if there are gas appliances like boiller, gas & gas fire obtained through a corgi engineer and I assume the house would be rented furnished, the furnishings must meet fire regs aswell.

Guy_Montag

Don't forget they need to protect the deposit using one of the schemes.

paintpot

Guy_Montag wrote: »

Don't forget they need to protect the deposit using one of the schemes.

Absolutely if they go for an AST fixed term.