Tenancy agreement should include

Evicting a tenant is something you may need to do as a landlord. Learn what steps to follow and how best to protect your interests in this situation. A welcome letter goes a long way toward getting off on the right food with a new tenant.

Follow these suggestions for creating a memorable letter that contains helpful information for your tenants. Overview Successful property management begins with good documentation, and most landlords will start a leasing arrangement with a rental application. A rental application allows a landlord to organize and evaluate applicants for a piece of property, and to use the information provided to run credit and background checks on those individuals.

Collectively, this information can be used to select tenants who will pay rent promptly and care well for the property. A landlord can also shield himself from claims that he selected applicants for improper and discriminatory reasons.

As a landlord, you'll sometimes have tenants who breach their lease by failing to pay rent. Find out your first steps in starting an eviction proceeding against a habitually nonpaying tenant. Although not required in all states, rent receipts are useful for both landlords and tenants. Learn what information to include in this important document—and how it might help with your taxes. As the old saying goes, "don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait.

One of the strongest investments is still residential real estate. So just how exactly can you protect yourself? A solid lease is a great place to start. Read more to find out how to draft a solid residential real estate lease.

Your rental agreement, however, must include some basic rental terms. What Is a Rental Agreement? How to Write a Rental Agreement A month-to-month rental agreement should include certain provisions so that the agreement protects you. Numerous provisions can be included, but a basic rental agreement should include at least the following 10 terms: Identify the parties to the agreement and the address of the property you own. Make sure you include the name of every tenant living at the property and their contact information.

Include your name and contact information and the address of the property. Describe the property if it doesn't have a number. For example, if it's a room in a house, you can state that the property is the "third-floor bedroom" if there's only one bedroom on that floor. Be precise. The term of the tenancy and how it ends. List how long the term is, such as a month-to-month rental or a three-month rental.

Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Home Housing and local services Being a landlord and renting out a room. Tenancy agreements: a guide for landlords England and Wales. Print entire guide. Related content Deposit protection schemes and landlords Evicting tenants England and Wales Renting out your property. Thank you for your feedback. Report a problem with this page. What were you doing?

What went wrong? Email address. By default, the law implies that rent is paid in arrears. A tenancy agreement can specify that rent is payable in advance. Payment in advance helps a landlord's cash flow, particularly if a tenant is ever late in payment of the rent.

The tenancy agreement can also state how the rent is to be paid e. The agreement should define clearly what is being let. In a business property lease, this would usually be done with reference to a map. However, unless a house is large, it is unlikely that a tenancy agreement would do so. Instead, the property should be described as completely as possible, using house numbers as well as names and relative location if a flat, e.

If there are outbuildings, separate land or any part of the property not being let perhaps the landlord wishes to let it separately or wishes to use it himself , it should be made clear that these are excluded. If the property has a designated parking space in a communal parking area particularly relevant in large blocks of flats then the space should be clearly marked and referenced in the agreement. Landlords are responsible for structural repairs and maintenance of the property by law, and cannot contract out of this responsibility.

However, the tenancy agreement should state whether the landlord or the tenant is responsible for non-structural repairs such as fixing a broken curtain rail and re decoration. It is worth noting that a landlord may have more incentive to fix a problem correctly and for the long term than a tenant may have, so even if it is the responsibility of the tenant to carry out non-structural repairs, it may be in the interest of the landlord to offer to do so.

Tenancy agreements usually contain a paragraph that obliges the tenant to maintain any garden or external area although it may be difficult to argue that the tenant allowing "wild" flowers to grow devalued or enhanced the value of a garden.

A term allowing the tenant to redecorate should be with the landlord's permission not unreasonably refused, or in the current style and colours, so that the tenant does not redecorate in a style that would be unattractive for later habitants. A tenancy agreement usually states that tenants are not allowed to damage the property. It is common for the clause also to include furniture and contents as well. Improvements without the landlord's consent to prevent alteration, including the changing of locks, are usually also forbidden.

Unless specified in the tenancy agreement, a tenant can enjoy quiet occupation and use the property for any purpose. It is advisable to limit use to occupation of a single, private, residential dwelling and to include paragraphs that forbid antisocial behaviour. If the property was bought subject to conditions of use many new build flats now have terms of purchase that restrict actions such as drying washing on balconies then these should be included in the tenancy agreement as well.

Tenants should never be allowed to run a business from the house either, as the property may become bound by non-residential property law instead.

Landlords can restrict what the tenant does in the property provided the restrictions are reasonable. As a very general rule of thumb, if the use would result in likely damage or devaluation of the property it is likely that a term restricting that use would be reasonable.

Landlords should make sure that terms intended to restrict a use reasonably do not restrict other uses unreasonably. For example, a term that restricts keeping pets may be unreasonable if the tenant wishes to keep a goldfish, but not if he wishes to keep a dog. The easiest way to control use is not to blanket ban certain use, but qualify the restriction with "without the landlord's permission, not to be unreasonably withheld".

That way the landlord can make judgment on a case by case basis. Note as well that a landlord cannot prevent the tenant from using the property in a way in which the landlord disproves. For example, a tenant cannot be forced to clean the property to a set timetable, or not to have guests to stay overnight or not to cook certain types of food. As long as the tenant does not harm the property, all that the landlord can ask is that the property is left in the same condition at the end of the tenancy as at the beginning.

If a deposit is taken then the amount and who will hold it should be recorded in the tenancy agreement. All deposits for assured shorthold tenancies are required by law to be held by a government authorised tenancy deposit schemes. Sometimes a landlord will prefer to keep utilities and other bills in his own name, perhaps because of the administrative burden of transferring them to the tenant.

This isn't advised. Some bills may be based on consumption when the tenant has no incentive not to consume such as in the case of electricity, gas and water and the landlord may face much greater bills than he expected.

The tenant may also need some utility bills in his own name to be able to prove that he lives at the address. If the landlord does wish to pay the bills himself, the cost can either be included in the rent as part of the fixed amount or specified as an additional payment that covers the bills but not more.

Which bills are paid by whom should be recorded in the tenancy agreement. Our advice is to let the tenant pay for all associated service costs including council tax. Collecting additional payments creates another administrative burden, disrupts the landlord's cash flow and can be problematic to enforce.

Many penalty clauses are liable to be found void under the Unfair Terms Regulations see our article on unfair terms in letting agreements. Penalty clauses need to be used very carefully. Penalties cannot be excessive in size, nor unjustly charged.

A penalty clause should recompense a landlord for costs incurred, not punish the tenant. It would be wise to draw the tenant's attention to any penalty clause before the tenancy agreement is signed.

Commonly this would be done in a covering letter.