Tenancy Agreement – Checklist

Tenancy agreements are our thing. We have been providing a free tenancy agreement to the landlord community for over 7 years and now literally hundreds of thousands of Property Hawks tenancy agreement is used to manage and regulate tenancies across the country.

We do receive a lot of questions about our tenancy agreement. Some specific to our tenancy agreement others more general about what is included or not included in our tenancy agreement. I thought it might be useful just to clarify some of the points concerning a tenancy agreement, the legalities of a tenancy agreement and what should and what shouldn’t be included over the next few weeks with a series of short pieces all about the legalities and intricacies of the most important letting document the tenancy agreement:

1. Break Clauses
Property Hawks tenancy agreement doesn’t contain a specific break clause. This is because our tenancy agreement is governed by the Housing Act (the primary legislation) and therefore it’s not necessary to include one. To find out how to end a tenancy agreement then follow the link. It is possible to renew a tenancy .

2. How long should I grant a tenancy for?
You can pretty much grant a tenancy agreement for any period of time. Most landlords will look at a tenancy agreement granting a tenancy for 6 months. I would always advise a landlord to grant a tenancy for no more than 6 months for the initial let. This way if there is any problem with the tenant or the tenancy then the landlord is in a position to obtain possession using the Accelerated Possession Procedure using a section 21 notice. Many tenants and landlords using a tenancy agreement For more advice on how long to grant a tenancy for have a look at this recent article.

3. Does the tenancy agreement need to be signed and witnessed?
It’s not necessary to get have a signed tenancy agreement. In fact you don’t need a tenancy agreement at all.
When it comes to a tenancy agreement provided the term is less than three years, the tenant is paying a market rent and the term starts immediately – there is no need for signatures to be witnessed. This is set out in section 54 of the Law of Property Act 1925. Otherwise, for example if the landlord is granting a five year tenancy, the tenancy needs to be signed as a deed (which means the signature must be witnessed). Another situation where this should be done is where the tenancy agreement is being signed up in advance before a tenancy starts – this is often the case with many lettings to student tenants. It is possible to produce a tenancy agreement that is signed digitally.

Your Tenancy Agreement – questions answered
Tenancy Agreement – get one for Free
Tenancy Agreement – advice on using them

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