UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello,

When offering to renew a contract to a tenant is it best to keep the contract to six months or increase it to a year?

It just seems fishy to me that as soon as my tenants signed a contract for on year their atitude towards paying the rent on time has changed.

I started my first btl property off by offering the prospective tenant a six month contract, the rent was payed on time for six months so i decided to offer a new contract for a period of a year.
The first rent payment of the yearly contract never came so i contacted the tenant a week later and payment was made.
The tenant then contacted me and asked if the payment date could be changed to the 28th of the month rather than the contracted date of the 16th.
I agreed to this if it was going to make payment easier.
I did explain to the tenant that the rent will be two weeks behind and that it will need to be paid in adition to the monthly rent.
Cut a long story short, eight months later im still owed one weeks rent and the front door glass needs replacing.
My tenant did complain that the bathroom carpet stayed wet where they were using the shower on a regular basis so i went to the local carpet shop that weekend and aranged for the carpet to be removed and a nice peice of lino fitted in its place.

It looks to me that costs are starting to ad up so i sent the tenants a letter explaining i would like the rent arears paid and i will be passing on the repair costs to them as it does state in the renatal contract that the tenant would be responsible for any damages to glass within the building.

Should i have kept the contract to a six months agreement ?

It wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference.

Except: You could now issue a section 21 as the contract would be "rolling" This is an advantage.

Quote from: One house on July 07, 2014, 11:35:51 PMShould i have kept the contract to a six months agreement ?

Why did you offer a 6 month AST then a 12 month AST? The same question would stand if you'd offered a 6 month AST followed by a 6 month AST?

After the original fixed term expires, would you not have been better letting the AST become an SPT - the rolling contract? Then you are outside the fixed term and both Tenants and Landlord have the flexibility of offering the appropriate notice... the same agreement is in place. Did the Tenants asked for a new 12 month AST, I infer from your post that it was your decision alone to put this to them?

I do not see that 1 week of rent arrears - certainly over a period of 8 months - is a terribly big issue for you. The front door glass comment is entirely unrelated to the rest of the post.

Are you sure the Tenant understands - and agrees - that they owe you a week of rent? Maybe you have explained it to them, but they don't understand or don't agree.

Having a payment date that suits your Tenants is a good thing... it usually means it's shortly after they get paid or 'get paid' and the temptation to use their rent on other things is lessened. Moving the payment date to something the Tenant wants is a smart thing to do.

Quote from: Hippogriff on July 08, 2014, 08:03:09 AM

Quote from: One house on July 07, 2014, 11:35:51 PMShould i have kept the contract to a six months agreement ?

Why did you offer a 6 month AST then a 12 month AST? The same question would stand if you'd offered a 6 month AST followed by a 6 month AST?

After the original fixed term expires, would you not have been better letting the AST become an SPT - the rolling contract? Then you are outside the fixed term and both Tenants and Landlord have the flexibility of offering the appropriate notice... the same agreement is in place. Did the Tenants asked for a new 12 month AST, I infer from your post that it was your decision alone to put this to them?

I do not see that 1 week of rent arrears - certainly over a period of 8 months - is a terribly big issue for you. The front door glass comment is entirely unrelated to the rest of the post.
Are you sure the Tenant understands - and agrees - that they owe you a week of rent? Maybe you have explained it to them, but they don't understand or don't agree.

Having a payment date that suits your Tenants is a good thing... it usually means it's shortly after they get paid or 'get paid' and the temptation to use their rent on other things is lessened. Moving the payment date to something the Tenant wants is a smart thing to do.

Hello,

This is my first btl and i know nothing, i just decided that if the first six months go ok then i would ask the agent to offer a year contract.
Whats a SPT ?
Yes the tenent is aware about the rent arears because they agreed to an extra week ontop for two months to make it square but they only paid one extra week and no extra since.
All i know is that i had some savings and i wanted to make good use of them........so i took a chance and it seems the property price has raised since.  but im in it for the long term, well about 15 years will do.

The front door glass, I decided to mention the front door because if the tenant refuses to pay for the repairs then , front door glass + 1 week rent arears adds up and what damage will come next? If the front door glass can't be replaced and it means a new front door we are talking £500 + to replace .
I don't want repair costs escalating out of control.

Thank you all for your responses.

Quote from: One house on July 08, 2014, 08:53:50 AMI don't want repair costs escalating out of control.

No, understood, but it has no bearing (at all) on your thread... best to keep the topics you start nice and simple to best get the answers you need.

A Statutory Periodic Tenancy is what automatically arises after the fixed term of your initial AST concludes if the Tenant is going to stay on in the property... it is under the same terms and conditions as your AST, just on a month-by-month rolling basis where the Tenant must give you 1 month notice to leave and you must give the Tenants 2 months notice to leave (most usually via a Section 21). There is no need to offer a new fixed term... unless that suits both parties, of course.

Agents might like you to offer a renewal... as it allows them to earn fees (often from Tenants and Landlords)... but it seems you were the driving force behind this offer, not the Agent?

Who can predict what damage could come next? No-one.

Thank you for advice.

So in order for me to reinforce the original contract rules would it be a good idea to get the tenant to sign a new contract but without any time limit ?
Once the current agreement runs out.  I could copy the original remove time limits and elbow the agent saving a months rental fee charges.

Are there any benefits of having an agent if you manage the property yourself?
Do the tenents have to leave the property if i nolonger use the agent for a contract?

Sorry for if the questions seem silly  but we all start somewhere.

No, after the fixed term of the original AST is reached, an SPT automatically comes into being... no other document is needed. For example, to illustrate this clearly, in my AST I have the following text "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."

I, personally, see no benefits of having an Agent, at all. I use Agents for Tenant Find and Referencing only. I would not trust them to do a good job of management.

No, the Tenants do not have to leave the property. However, your Agent might have some strange ideas about what terms and conditions you signed-up to with them.

The first contract i had with my tenenat was for six months through the agent who found the tenant, towards the end of the six months the agent contacted me to enquire if i was willing to offer another contract to the tenant so i agreed to a year.
At the end of this tenancy agreement (12 months) should i tell the agent that i no longer wish for a contract?

Yes and no.

Don't ask not to have a contract, just explain that you wish to go "periodic"

Quote from: One house on July 09, 2014, 10:08:34 PMAt the end of this tenancy agreement (12 months) should i tell the agent that i no longer wish for a contract?

I can't figure out whether you're not reading the replies properly or really don't get it. You don't end up in a situation where you have no contract, the terms and conditions of the original contract still stand, they have just become periodic. So, don't tell your Agent you no longer wish for a contract - tell them you are happy for it to move to become an SPT (if your Tenant wants to remain, of course). The Agent may be somewhat miffed by this, as they might want to charge contract renewal fees.

Previously it read like you were the one offering the new fixed term to the Tenants, but now it seems it was at the behest of the Agent... no surprises there. Do you know if they charges contract renewal fees - to you, to the Tenants?

Thanks again for reply,

I shall look and see if i can see anything relating to other fees or charges.