Tenancy Agreement

petunia100

We've had a rolling tanancy agreement for the past 12 years with a private landlord. Now they are asking us to sign a new tenancy agreement for a fixed 12 months. The agents have said that it is better for us, as at the moment they would only have to give us 2 months notice to leave. Does anyone know of any pitfalls there are with a fixed tenancy?  

JuzaMum

They can give you two months notice of their intention to take you to court for eviction. They cannot make you leave in two months. I can't see any reason to sign a new contract. Is it the landlord or the agency wanting you to sign?

theartfullodger

Same rent?  - or similar?  If so almost certainly landlord has realised something wrong with his paperwork so any s21 notice would he invalid, couldn't evict you.  

See what paperwork (all) that they offer.  And read it all, carefully.

propertyrental

* better for agent! He gets paid by the LL for the new contract
* fixed term gives you security for 12 months, but no flexibility
* periodic (rolling) gives you flexibility eg if you might want to leave

Read 
Post 4: 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?

macman

The pitfalls is that you are committed for a further 12m. Only you will know if that is really a pitfall in your situation.

petunia100

JuzaMum said:

They can give you two months notice of their intention to take you to court for eviction. They cannot make you leave in two months. I can't see any reason to sign a new contract. Is it the landlord or the agency wanting you to sign?

Our present contract they would only have to give us 2 months notice to leave, whereas a fixed contract they would have to wait until the end of the contract.

petunia100

theartfullodger said:

Same rent?  - or similar?  If so almost certainly landlord has realised something wrong with his paperwork so any s21 notice would he invalid, couldn't evict you.  

See what paperwork (all) that they offer.  And read it all, carefully.

The rent is increasing but we were expecting that.

petunia100

macman said:

The pitfalls is that you are committed for a further 12m. Only you will know if that is really a pitfall in your situation.

It's unlikely that we ever want to leave unless we couldn't afford the rent. 

propertyrental

petunia100 said:

macman said:

The pitfalls is that you are committed for a further 12m. Only you will know if that is really a pitfall in your situation.

It's unlikely that we ever want to leave unless we couldn't afford the rent. 

Then ask for a 2 (or 3) year contract with no Break Clause........

petunia100

propertyrental said:

petunia100 said:

macman said:

The pitfalls is that you are committed for a further 12m. Only you will know if that is really a pitfall in your situation.

It's unlikely that we ever want to leave unless we couldn't afford the rent. 

Then ask for a 2 (or 3) year contract with no Break Clause........

I'll look into it.