UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi everyone,

I am currently marketing a property for the first time. I am following the advice on this (very useful!) website of initially going for a 6-month fixed term AST and then extending if all goes well. I want to communicate this to potential tenants so that they are aware, but also don't want them to misunderstand or lose interest.

I plan to send them the following message:

"Just one clarification point. To start with, I am looking to sign a 6-month fixed contract/AST and then extend if things go well for both parties. I am doing this to offer as much flexibility as possible in case the tenancy does not work out as expected. If after 6 months both parties are happy with the flat/tenancy, we can either extend for another fixed term or simply do a 'periodic tenancy'. Extending would be at no cost to you (because you are dealing directly with the landlord, instead of an agent)."

I would be grateful if you guys could share your expertise and let me know whether this sounds OK or in any way off putting, and if so whether you have any edits to the text.

Thank you!

Best regards,

k

In your AST just have a start date and an end date. Or something like:

"Date 8 Apr 2015
Term 6 Months, commencing on the Date above, ending on 7 Oct 2015"

Then, somewhere else in the AST, put something like - "Upon expiry of the initial Term of this Tenancy Agreement, it is agreed that the tenancy shall continue as a monthly periodic tenancy and the same terms and conditions of this Tenancy Agreement shall apply. After the initial Term of the Tenancy Agreement has ended, the Tenant(s) will not be required to pay the Landlord any renewal fees." - or something similar (or different).

Tenants may still ask for a 12 month fixed term and that is obviously up to your discretion. Your stuff is too... I dunno... accommodating? It's like you're trying to explain away something that is actually the norm.

P.S. - the reason I'm happy to put this stuff into the AST is because I always provide a draft AST at least 1 week before the tenancy start date and allow the prospective Tenants to review it. It's actually quite rare that I get requests to change anything... once or twice only.

Thanks a lot Hippogriff.

I will definitely include that in the AST - that is very useful.

The other option is a 12-month fixed contract with a 6-month break clause. Do you have any views on this?

Thanks,

Sergey

My view on Break Clauses is simple... stay away from Break Clauses.

Same view as Hippo on break clauses. 

You're creating a problem about a 6 month tenancy when there isn't one. 

It's a 6 month AST, then it goes onto a rolling contract is what you tell tenants.  If they say they want 12 months you say no problem, it'll be a 6 month tenancy and then it rolling and you can stay as long as you want to, I have no intentions on selling.

Thanks Riptide.

I had the viewings yesterday and you and Hippogriff were right: all prospective tenants were happy with the 6 month fixed AST.

On the topic of break clauses, I have a question about my own rental contract with my current landlord. The clause reads as follows:

"After ten months from the commencement date of this agreement as stated in Section 2.5 or on any rent due date thereafter, the Landlord or Tenant can elect to bring this tenancy to an end with two months' notice; therefore the earliest date upon which this agreement can end is the anniversary of twelve months from commencement. The procedure for breaking this tenancy is to serve written notice to the Landlord of the property, sent by first-class post or recorded delivery to the address on the front page of this agreement."

Commencement date: 20 March 2015
Expiration date: 19 September 2016
Rent date: 20th of every month

So the way I read it, the earliest I can leave the flat is 20 March 2016 by giving notice 2 months before that, so 20 January 2016.

However, I am a little confused how to interpret the phrase "or on any rent due date thereafter". Let's say I want to leave the flat on e.g. 29th June 2016. Can I do that by serving 2 months notice ahead of that date? Or can I only effectively end the tenancy on the 'rent date', so if I wanted to leave in June it would have to be 20th June, or if I wanted to leave in July, it would have to be 20th July.

I guess this is a good example of the ambiguity of break clauses, but I was wondering if you could share your views on how to interpret this?

Many thanks.

K

19th.

If you are in a fixed term tenancy (i.e 6 or 12 months) you agree to take on that property for that time.  If you fulfill this obligation you need to give NO NOTICE.  You can leave on or before the last day of the (6 or 12 months) and in theory you don't even need to tell the landlord (although I'm sure you have better manners than that)