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Hi Everyone, I'm just looking for a bit advise around Council Guaranteed Rent Agreement's. I have a tenant that has been in my property for 5 years and never had any problems at all. Recently the couple have separated and one of them wants to stay in the property, they have gone to the council and the council have confirmed they meet the Guaranteed Rent requirements, so if the tenant cant pay the rent the council will up to a certain amount. I'm also wondering how the tenant can pay now being a single parent? I don't want to lose a good tenant but also need to protect myself. My management agent are advising against starting another AST with the tenant as they cant have a company(council) as the guarantor on the AST. What do people think about this any advise would be helpful. Thanks

Hi, I am a tenant and I have an assured short hold tenancy agreement due for renewal (12 months). Can someone please help me to understand this break clause? I cannot make sense of it. I would appreciate any help, thank you

So I'm purchasing a leasehold flat in Liverpool and the ground rent is £300. I was unexpectedly notified by my solicitor that because the amount is over £250 (£1,000 in London), then the lease falls within the Housing Act 1988 and will be legally classified as an AST. The term however is 250yrs. My solicitor advised that because of this AST classification, the lease is not CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) compliant- and 'many high street lenders are not willing to grant mortgages on such leases'. This has gotten me particularly nervous as I'm due to exchange next week..... Has anyone else come across this issue? Does it pose a genuine threat to securing a mortgage? Thanks

Hi, would appreciate anyone's views on giving out a 4 month AST and how that stands legally? I am in a position whereby i may need to offer my BTL property for rent on a 4 month agreement, but im very conscious that the minimum has always been 6 (as far as i know), so does a lesser period i.e. 4 months change the legalities of the agreement in anyway? Be great to get peoples thoughts as to the pro's and cons on such a short AST? Many Thanks

Hi all. Can anyone please give some examples of what should be included in an AST tenancy agreement? Many Thanks! Charlie

Hi Hubbers, Has anyone else come across this ground rents over £250pa AST issue? I have had several city centre apartment investments in Birmingham rejected by our solicitors recently because the ground rents were either above £250, or there were provisions in the leases meaning future increases (often doubling or RPI linked) could potentially lead to them rising over £250. The explanation is: "Leases which have ground rent above £1000 in London or £250 outside of London are currently classed as an “assured tenancy” under the Housing Act 1988. This means that the Landlord can seek to end the lease by an order of the court, and attempt to evict the Tenant if there is ground rent more than 3 months in arrears." So in theory, if the ground rent went unpaid for any reason, even if it was just a mistake, the property could be taken back by the freeholder! This only applies if the property is owner-occupied, but even if the property is bought as an investment, this could obviously have a significant impact on the future resale value? If this is indeed accurate then no leasehold property outside of London with a ground rent of over £250 is fit for purchase, which is insane because almost all of them have GR higher than this? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.... Articles relating to this issue: https://www.mishcon.com/news/publications/real_insights_-_property_update_05_2017/assured_tenancy_traps__the_unexpected_ast_05_2017 https://www.attwells.com/site/news-and-events/leases_with_high_ground_rent http://www.sharratts-london.co.uk/news/95-escalating-ground-rent-what-will-the-future-hold

Hi All, An avid follower of the podcast but first post on the forum so excuse me if this is too green. I have a current situation, bullet-pointed below, where I have been asked to list one person on the AST as a permitted Occupier (as they failed referencing/have no income currently). I am hearing alot of conflicting advice about this so wondered if anyone has had experience or got any advice. Situation Summary 2 tenants 1st passed referencing but only to cover 50% of the rent on her own. 2nd tenant did not pass referencing as referencing company I am using (Rent Guard) do not accept the benefits he receives as income). 1st tenant can proceed with a guarantor and decided to use Housing Hand (www.housinghand.co.uk) Housinghand confirmed they would gurantee first tenant for full amount of rent but have asked me to list 2nd tenant as Permitted Occupier only. Never used that on an AST and some of my research states it is fine - other research states its not advisable. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Bo

Hi, We have just taken the leap into a HMO, we have advertised through spare rooms and had a contractor get in touch who are doing some work in the local area, they wanted to let all the rooms for 8-10 weeks and I have a few questions I'm hoping some more experienced HMO landlords can help with. Would you consider this short term tenancy? What referencing would you carry out, with it being short term would you do less? Would you still use a AST and would you include any additional clauses etc? Would you take deposits? Thanks in Advance. Royce

Hi All, Just a quick query I hope you can help me with. I am considering moving all renewing ASTs to the electronic platform (Hello sign) recommended in the free course. Having always been old school and completed this by hand/post with witness signatures I am unsure of the legalities of my potential move. Are electronic ASTs legally binding, what would happen if they disputed it and what is your view on the need for witnesses...are they required? Any help would be great!

I have tenants moving in on a 12 month tenancy and I asked for a break clause to be put in. Would you please kindly review the break clause that has been included in the AST to see if it’s water tight enough? Their tenancy will start today, 2nd Feb 18. “The Landlord and Tenant agree that after 6 months of tenancy, on the 2ndAugust 2018, notice can be given by either party to end the tenancy. The Landlord is required to give 2 months notice and The Tenant is required to give 1 months notice. This notice must be served on the date of the 2nd August 2018; should notice not be served on this day the tenancy will continue as per the term of one year less a day.” Many thanks! Jordan

Hi, longtime lurker, first-time poster here! I hope someone on here will be able to give me an answer to a quick question.. I have an AST with a tenant that expires next month. For a couple different reasons, I'm considering letting the contract roll on for a few months (up to 6) and then asking her to sign a new AST (with a small rent rise) in the new year. The new contract will start on a date that is preferable to me so I benefit in that regard. The tenant is currently going through a bad time and doesn't want to sign a new contract at the moment. So the question is: Is there any risk with this strategy? My understanding of letting an AST roll on after the expiry date is that the terms will be exactly the same eg .s 21 for eviction, notice periods etc all remain the same, if any problems arose during that period. So what can go wrong if anything? thanks in advance for any advice. Mike the landlord

Hi all, I have a flat which I've just bought and found tenants for. I need an AST agreement for them to sign. Does anyone have, or can direct me towards a comprehensive AST that will suit? It's a regular "single let" property, where the tenants are two friends. I also need an AST suitable for a HMO that I'm currently refurbishing, where the rooms will be let individually and all bills will be included. Again, if one one can refer me to a suitable agreement, that would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Rak.

I send AST(Assured Shorthold Tenancy) digitally signed with Adobe from my laptop. The tenant has digitally signed and returned it too. Is this good enough for legal purposes? What about witness? Has anyone had experience with this? Does anyone follow this ? Thanks for your advice

Hello all, I am ready to move away from my filling cabinet and onto the cloud. I've not used Evernote or Onenote yet so this is a fresh start. Rob Dix said he was eventually going to move to Onenote... I would like your thoughts and experience of both systems. If anyone is using one note or Evernote what are the benefits to one or the other for a property business. What is the thing that OneNote does that makes it the better tool??? Rob I've message you separately on linked in but if you are able to let me know your thoughts/advice that would be great. Soon I will be getting set up on XERO and ARTHUR - is there link to evernote or onenote for these systems?? Thank you all for your thoughts and advice.. Roxane

Hi All, I really need some advice. I've never gone down the multi-let route before but now want to turn a 2 bed house into a living room and bedroom for 1 tenant upstairs and a room, plus conservatory and exclusive garden access for 1 tenant downstairs. This will allow me to increase my rent by £600-700 pcm. My issues are: 1. I know that I need a specific type of AST for this and I have a great 'joint and several' one, but it cannot be used for this purpose. Does anyone know of a solid AST for tenancies for individual rooms please? 2. If I go down this route instead of having a joint tenancy, how would you advise that I handle issues with damage and/or neglect of common parts and what I could legitimately claim against both tenants if no-one owns up or rectifies the issue(s)? 3. Have I missed anything? What else should I consider? As you can see I'm having a sleepless night trying to trawl the Internet for answers! Thanks in advance :-)

Hi all. Sorry for the length of this and thanks in advance for reading - please excuse the grammer/spelling, I am writing this on my phone. I recently purchased a property at auction that was already tenanted. The legal pack contained an AST for 12 months from April 2015 with the tenants name and landlords names blanked out (a common occurrence in auction sales I am led to believe). I wanted to purchase the property due to it already being tenanted and yielding an income. When I viewed the property prior to auction I knocked on the door to view and it seemed the tenants weren't in. I proceeded anyway due to knowing what these properties are like inside (I own one already that backs onto this one) and, it had recently been renovated, the proof being; the auction catalogue spiel said so, the new electrical installation cert, new boiler and radiator installation receipt and double glazed window receipts, that were all included in the legal pack. The trouble I am having is that on completion I was not provide with the original AST or even an copy without the names blanked out. When I queried the solicitor as to whether they had a copy, they replied, No we didn't receive it from the vendor. Therefore I do not have any details about the tenant - not even their name. On completion i served the tenant with a Section 48 notice of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, telling the tenant who I was and my address along with a letter from me introducing myself and telling them to now pay their rent to me. The notice and a letter were sent recorded delivery but the tenants weren't in and they haven't collected the letter from royal mail as of yet, almost 2 weeks later. I have not been to the property yet as it is not close to where I live, however I will be making a trip up this weekend. My question is, should the solicitors have allowed me to complete even though they hadn't received originals of the AST? As it was part of the legal pack, be it a redacted copy, I thought it would have formed part of the contract and they should have had it before completing? I am beginning to think that there are no tenants at the property at all and the AST was fabricated to make the property look more attractive at auction. I will hopefully know tomorrow when I visit but was hoping for some advise and maybe some suggestions before then. Thanks

Hi there, I read something recently that suggested you don't need to renew an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement when the period expires. I have always renewed the AST for three reasons. Firstly, it gives me the reassurance the tenant is staying for another 12 months, secondly I didn't think the various legal clauses would be valid once the tenancy agreement expired. So for example, clauses around how to upkeep the house would be invalid? Thirdly, doesn't this give the tenant reassurance their deposit has been secured for a further period? If this is not the case I would love to know...this would save me several hundred pounds a year! Many thanks in advance. Wes

I have recently purchased my first hmo property. It was fully tenanted when I took it over. One of the rooms has become vacant and I need to prepare the tenancy agreement. Can I use the NLA tenancy agreement that they provide to their members? Or do I need to have a HMO specific agreement? I think I saw a hmo agreement available online to purchase. I would really appreciate advice on this. Also are there any inventory apps with photos that anyone could recommend? Thanks Roxane

Hi, I am looking for a bit of advice on who is responsible for the utility bills as follows; 1st July rental payment received from tenant. 21st July tenant gave notice to leave (Original 6 month AST rolled over to a periodic tenancy with payments made on the 1st of the month). 21st July After reminding the tenant a one month notice is required, they agreed to pay it using their deposit. 30th July tenant move out and handed over the keys. 31st Aug End of full one month notice period (?) Is the tenant responsible for the utility and council tax bills up to the date they moved out (30th July) or up to the end of the one months notice period (31st Aug)? The property has been empty since the tenant move out. I would be grateful if someone can give me some advise on this. Thank you Richard.. PS apologies if this post is not accurate as this is my first one :-)

Hi Property Hub members……. I’m after a bit of advice with reference to Deposit Compliance I used the My/Deposits system to protect the tenants deposit and when complying with the landlords legal obligations defined in (g) (vi) Order 2007 to: “outline the circumstances in which all or part of the tenancy deposit may be retained”. (I attach the Prescribed Information Order for reference) My thoughts were to make reference to the clause in the AST which outlines why the deposit was taken, (see attached "Doc2) but not sure if this is right or if a more elegant solution is available…. My question to the Property Hub faithful: How do you comply with this requirement…. Any screen dumps or pdf’s would be useful (of the key elements) – obviously avoid showing anyone the tenant’s names and address….. I would appreciate your assistance in this matter Regards Paul Doc2.docx mydeposits Prescribed Information Order.pdf