The tenancy agreement is fundamental for many landlords letting their property.We have just one tenancy agreement. It's multi purpose, so it's suitable for letting houses, flats, single rooms in shared houses.
However, we know it's not perfect. The question is.
Can we improve it? Do we need different types of tenancy agreements. Do you want to edit the agreement and if so what sort of clauses would be useful.
Tell us what you want by posting your views below.
Free property management software, Free tenancy agreements
I only let one flat but it comes with landline and broadband. So I get all the utilities through one supplier (Utility Warehouse) and the tenant is obliged to leave all the utilities back with UW (or accept an agreed deduction from the deposit) when they leave. This keeps it simple (only one supplier to deal with) and it saves me BT charges to get the line back.
ReplyDeleteI wouldnae trust UW (or some people advertising them...) further than I could throw them, and I have a bad back...
ReplyDeleteThey operate in a manner many might consider remarkably similar to a pyramid scheme for the agents... but UW have told me it ain't a pyramid scheme so that's Ok then...
I agree with 'anonymous' about the penalty for changing suppliers - dealing with those changes is a pain. His idea is a simple approach, which I've used.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to see more specific personal info about the tenant. Could we get away with their NI? It can always be gathered during vetting, but putting it on the form, which they sign, will help with tracing absconders.
Most specifically, I'd like to see the forwarding address or guarantor's address shown.
Thanks for your comments guys.
ReplyDeleteOne further thought about the tenancy agreement. Would it be useful if you could email the completed form straight out of the property manager direct to the tenant?
email?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, for when they have email.
My own experience (and you'll guess the class of tenant) is that most of them get through 5 mobile phone numbers in the course of a tenancy.....
it would be nice to see the ability to insert a custom special conditions section within the standard tenancy agreement template.
ReplyDeleteAll tenancys require slight alterations as they are all different
On the subject of phone numbers I cover that in my Tenants Manual. Essentially the number used will be the last one supplied by the tenant. If they subsequently argue that didn't get the message, the argument falls flat.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, for the most part, the tenancy agreement is an inconvenience that no one reads before signing anyway. Its just a necessary evil to get the keys.
I am always amazed how easy it is to contact a potential tenant, but how quickly this changes once they are "in".
Hi Folks
ReplyDeletesome improvements I would like to see are that the tenants notice period should be included for both the tenant giving notice and the landlord, also a date of birth for the tenant as tracing agency's find this useful should a tenant disappear! It would be useful if the agreements could be edited if I need to do this now I have to use an online PDF editor bit of a pain but doable hope property hawk consider these suggestions