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Short term tenancy

About to rent out our property.
The neighbour next door will be the tenant, but they are wanting it for about 3-5 months only, until they find a house to buy.

Can a Tenancy agreement be for less than 6 months?
If so, which one if any can be used as a template?
Or can an AST be used and amend the parts which will be different?

Any info or links for info towards this would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • dimbo61
    dimbo61 Posts: 13,727 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    You can offer what ever length of Tenancy you want.
    However you can't even start to evict the tenant until at least 6 months
    So bear this in mind.
  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 15,989 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    AST.


    You CAN evict earlier than 6 months but realistically only serious rent arrears.



    Never rent to friends or family.
  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Plan for them to be there longer... We started renting in November and are yet to find a house to buy. It can take 3-5 months for a purchase to go through, let alone the time to actually find a house. ;)
  • tarman
    tarman Posts: 9 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Apart from the obvious length being shorter being noted, can the other parts of the T's and C's from a 6+ month AST tenancy agreement, be used within the short term one?
  • saajan_12
    saajan_12 Posts: 5,779 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    tarman wrote: »
    About to rent out our property.
    The neighbour next door will be the tenant, but they are wanting it for about 3-5 months only, until they find a house to buy.

    Can a Tenancy agreement be for less than 6 months?
    If so, which one if any can be used as a template?
    Or can an AST be used and amend the parts which will be different?

    Any info or links for info towards this would be greatly appreciated.

    Yes. You can use a normal tenancy agreement for an AST, and amend any terms about the minimum / fixed term to be say 3 months. After this minimum term, the tenancy would simply continue monthly.

    If the tenant wants to terminate, they can
    - simply leave at the end of the fixed term; or
    - serve notice on the SPT / CPT that arises after.

    If you as LL want to terminate,
    - serve Section 8 notice if there were very serious tenancy breaches / rent arrears any time; or
    - serve Section 21 notice after month 4, so expiry is the LATER of end of fixed term and end of month 6.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    For more, see

    * Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

    * New landlords: advice, information & links
This discussion has been closed.
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