Do you know what tenancy type you have?

Or even if you have a tenancy at all?

It’s not such a stupid question as it seems.

Most people WILL know their tenancy type.  For example, the vast majority of tenancies in England and Wales in the private sector are assured shorthold tenancies.  This is the default tenancy type which is created when someone goes into a property and starts paying rent.

But not always!  For example not if:

• The tenant moved into the property before 15 January 1989
• The tenant is a limited company
• The property let is in the same building as the landlords own home, or if
• The rent is over £100,000 pa

It is important that you know what tenancy type is involved (or indeed whether it is a tenancy at all) as this will affect your rights and those of your tenant.

For example, it will determine:

• Whether the tenant’s deposit will need to be protected in a scheme
• Whether, and if so how, the tenant can challenge any rent increases
• The notices that you need to serve if you wish to evict the tenant, and
• The eviction procedure you will need to use

How Landlord Law can help

Because this is such a critical issue, we have a ‘Tenancy Trail’ guide on Landlord Law – a special question and answer service to help you work this out.  It is now a free service.

The Tenancy Trail also provides a lot of other help and guidance in respect of the various occupation types with links to other (free) online resources and members-only information on the Landlord Law website.

You will find it here.