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What
is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?
Lease and Tenancy Agreement UK
If
you have a rental lease in the UK, then you will most probably have an
assured shorthold tenancy agreement. Uncover all the important facts of
an assured shorthold tenancies and learn how to manage your tenancy
agreement UK like a pro today.
What
Exactly is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?
An assured
shorthold lease (also known as a shorthold tenancy) was introduced
in 1988 so that UK landlords could have the freedom to decide on how
much rent they wanted to charge.
Compared to previous types of tenancy in the UK such as a
regulated
tenancy / protected tenancy, you are granted a lot
more landlord rights and freedom when
you have an assured shorthold rental.
An
important update was made to the law on creating a shorthold lease on
28 February 1997: If you have a tenancy agreement UK that began on or
after 28 February, it will automatically become an assured shorthold
tenancy agreement unless both the landlord and tenant agrees to change
it to an assured tenancy.
This important law change has made assured shorthold tenancy agreements
the default type of lease in the UK.
What
are the Major Features of an Assured Shorthold Lease?
Once your
assured shorthold tenancy agreement UK is set up, your tenant has the
right to stay on your
rental property for at least 6 months. However you won't have to
set
up a fixed term lease with a predetermined end date.
If your rental period is less than 3 years, it's not a must to have a
written rental agreement (although we still highly recommend that you
have
one). Click
here for our free residential lease agreement.
Even if there is no written rental agreement, you will still have to
provide your tenant with a written statement with the terms and
conditions of your lease if they ask for it.
You can
collect security deposits from your tenant that is equal to 2
month's rent or less. Although you are allowed to collect more than
that, doing so may affect your landlord rights. The money that you
collect as security deposit will have to be protected by a tenancy
deposit scheme.
As the
landlord of assured shorthold tenancies, you are responsible for
maintaining your property in habitable condition according to the local
health and safety standards.
Your tenant has to pay the council tax, water bills and sewerage
charges. For other types of property expenses, you will have to state
clearly in your rental agreement who will be responsible for footing
the bills.
How You Can End an
Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement
The good
thing about an assured short lease you can choose to end anytime you
want (as long as your tenant has stayed on the rental property for at
least 6 months and your lease agreement is not of a fixed term nature).
You will have to inform your tenants 2 months in advance by giving your
tenants a written notice to
quit. This means if you want to end your tenancy after 6
months, the notice to quit has to be handed to your tenants by the 4th
month or earlier.
If you want to evict your tenant swiftly or remove him during the first
6 months, you are only allowed to do so it your tenant does
not pay his rent or
breaks the terms of your rental agreement. For more information, Click here for our
complete guide on how to evict a tenant painlessly.
Major
Differences Between a Shorthold and Assured Tenancy
Given the confusing way that the two current types of UK tenancies are
labeled, it's no surprise that many new landlords tend to mix them up.
The lease that we are talking about in this entire article is
the assured shorthold tenancy (also known as a shorthold tenancy).
There is another type of lease in the UK known as the assured tenancy.
The critical difference between a shorthold tenancy and an assured
tenancy is that an assured tenancy tends to be more restrictive to the
landlord. You cannot end an assured tenancy by giving your tenant a
written notice to quit in advance.
If your assured tenant refuses to leave, you cannot remove him from
your
rental property unless he refuses to pay his rent, harasses his
neighbours and other tenants or breaks the terms of your rental
agreement.
If you want to uncover more important facts on this second type of
lease and tenancy agreement UK,
Want to learn MORE practical must-know facts on the
right tenancy type for you?
Return from
this Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement page to our Types of Tenancy
guide
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