Ultra brief tenancy agreement - where do you I stand?

[kosebamse]

Hi guys,

 

I have been served the following, ultra brief tenancy agreement and am not sure where do I stand with it (questions at the bottom).

 

Here's the wording of the lease:

 

---Start

 

Lease

 

1. The Tenant pays deposit of £____.

 

2. Rent must be paid on the first of every month.

 

3. Rent is £____ per month; bills not included yet.

 

4. The Tenant must notify the Landlord within 24 hours of entry of any disrepair or defect of appliances and report failure of appliances.

 

5. The Tenant agrees not to sublet the property in whole or part.

 

6. If the Tenant wishes to make changes to the confirmed booking, the Tenant must notify the Landlord as soon as possible.

 

7. The Tenant binds and is obliged to vacate the premises without demand at the end of the tenancy.

 

Lease starts 01.09.2014 - until provisionally 31.07.2014, optionally to be prolonged through summer with first priority as well as for next year.

 

Name of Tenant: _________

 

Name of Landlord: _________

 

Date, time and Place _________

 

 

---End

 

 

Questions:

 

1. Does the tenancy constitute an Assured, Short Assured, or some other type of tenancy?

 

2. Is this tenancy allowing the landlord to reside in the property?

 

3. Does the wording of the lease mean I'm renting the property or a room (There are two rooms, and another person who has their own lease agreement - exactly alike - and pays their own rent)?

 

4. Does the lease is generally missing some important information that should (or have to) be included?

 

5. Point 6. and 7. are not clear to me, what do they mean?

 

Also, the landlord lives abroad and I'm not sure how to execute signing the lease to make it valid (witness, I assume)?

 

Thanks,

K.

[Lea_HTH]

Whoever wrote that lease is an idiot - but nobody ever said one had to be a neurophysicist in order to be a landlord.

 

1. It's an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) - for a term of 10 months, and you have the option to renew at the end of the initial tenancy period

 

2. No idea - it doesn't say, though see 3.

 

3. Seems like the intention is for you to rent a room in the flat, though the tenancy agreement says nothing in regards to that.

 

4. The lease is missing LOTS of information - however, leases do not have a determined form, people are free to sign contracts of any content. The difficult comes when they try to enforce such leases in court.

 

5. Point 6 means if you want to change the tenancy (booking) you have to tell the LL as soon as possible. Point 7 states that you have to leave by 31st july 2015. However, this is not legally binding. If you don't leave, the LL will have to take court action to get you out. (As I said, the LL is clearly an idiot.)

 

6. You can simply agree to the lease via an email - it's no less binding than if you signed it in person with a witness.

 

I would strongly suggest you find somewhere else to live - or if you do intend to take up this lease, that you ask the LL to issue you with a proper one (he should be able to find one for free online, or at very little cost from a website or even from a solicitor). It is in yours, and the LL's, best interests to ensure that the lease is accurate - including where he will hold your deposit (he is obliged to put it in a government scheme), and to clarify whether he too expects to live in the property (which would change your agreement from an AST to a licence).

[kosebamse]

Hi Lea, thanks for a very detailed reply, it is much helpful!

 

I agree about the deposit scheme, though I'm not particularly worried about it as I can try to enforce it when the tenancy has already started. I know that the LL is not registered with the council. Again, It doesn't worry me that much for, as afar as I understand, it doesn't invalidate the lease agreement whatsoever (or am I wrong to a certain extent?).

 

What, according to you, would be the most substantial aspects to be incorporated into the lease to protect my interests?

[Steve__M]

What, according to you, would be the most substantial aspects to be incorporated into the lease to protect my interests?

 

Some of your interests are quite well protected as soon as you move in because the tenancy would (probably) be decreed to be an AST for the room if the landlord is not living there.

 

But I don't know what happens if the landlord moves back in (to the other room).

 

The landlord has a statutory obligation to do certain repairs (heating and fabric of the building etc.). Normally, contracts include further requirements for landlords to do repairs - e.g. what happens if the washing machine goes wrong etc.

 

It's important to understand the landlord's intentions. Is he renting out his room while he is away, in the expectation that he may move back next summer?

[kosebamse]

Hi Steve,

 

Thanks for your reply. To clarify the matter, what I know is that the LL is sort of an acquaintance of the tenant residing at the property. The LL is apparently doing some education related stuff abroad (I don't know for how long). The tenant mentioned that the LL would infrequently crash in the living room and, apparently, it happened only once in the last year. How should a clause incorporated to the lease look like to explicitily forbid a living in LL? I don't mind him crashing once or twice a year for a couple days but anything more is not a deal I'm looking for, especially paying a hefty rent each month.

[Steve__M]

From what you say, then, the landlord is aiming to give you a lodging contract rather than an assured shorthold tenancy contract.

 

Whether it is lawful for a landlord to do that when he is not really living there is a question for the experts. If you take it up with him now, he may decide he doesn't want you as a tenant. If you take it up with him later (e.g. if you try to stop him "crashing" there), then things will get difficult.

 

Lodging contracts are often quite informal. But the lodger tends to have fewer rights.

 

One thing missing from this is any notice provision either for LL or you to end the agreement early. *If* you chose to stay you may wish to have an option to give a week's notice if LL stays too often for your liking.

[Lea_HTH]

If the LL has expressly stated that he will be staying in the property sometimes, then you do not have an AST, you have a licence.

 

It might be why the LL thinks his 'lease agreement' is adequate.

 

There must be other places to rent, rather than concerning yourself with trying to add things to this LL's tenancy agreement. He's unlikely to agree to any changes you make.

[stu007]

If this is a Lodger Agreement then have a look at our link on Lodger Information Pack to give you more info:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?393994-Lodger-Information-Pack-**Correct-as-at-June-2013**

 

Remember as stated as a Lodger you have very few Rights and will also be responsible for informing the council of you residing their for council tax purposes.