An owner must always have a lease agreement Assured Shorthold An assured Shorthold tenancy (AST) Agreement is a contract between the landlord and the tenant on a short term. It has become widespread for its merit in the other conditions of rental.
With AST, the lessee's right of tenure is particularly known as the right not to be deprived of property without just cause is lower than it was before the introduction of the HHR. Therefore, the owner may acquire possession of property without difficulty if he follows the correct steps.
As owner, you must be aware of the following when renting your property. First, the agreement must be concluded by the appropriate parties, namely, "the landlord and tenants. If the purpose of shorthold tenancy agreement is not providing a room in a house or an apartment, it is also advisable to run a house-sharing arrangement. The agreement stipulates the terms and conditions of use of common facilities.
Secondly, the leased property should be covered by an ordinary contract of insurance.
Thirdly, since the lease agreement is assured shorthold only for a short duration, there is no minimum. However, a landlord can repossess the property within six months after the execution of the lease. Thus, by implication, the minimum duration is six months. This is without prejudice to any breach of contract by the tenant.
Fourth, since the rental shorthold assured for a minimum period of six months hence, the expiration of the term would cause its conversion into a periodic tenancy assured shorthold. Thus, time will become dependent on the terms and conditions of the lease such as weekly or monthly.
At the expiry of the period under assured shorthold tenancy, the tenant can leave, if he does not stay there. If the tenant wants to stay but the owner wants to repossess the property at the end of the period, it must provide the tenants two months in advance in writing.
The termination of a contract must be undertaken with certain precautionary measures. Failure to comply with necessary procedures could result in the owner could not take possession of his property. Thus, the execution of a notice to quit is a prerequisite.
The notice must be served personally or by registered mail to the tenant as evidence that it is received by the latter. Finally, the deposit must be held under the terms and conditions of a special deposit scheme. The owner is forbidden to hold the deposit itself.
Posted on June 28, 2010.
