UK Landlord Forum / Life

My husband passed away in 2013 and had dealt with all aspects of the tenancy agreement on our rental property.  I can't find a copy of the tenant's agreement anywhere and have asked the tenants to send me a copy of theirs.....,, am still waiting.  They are generally very good tenants, been in the property probably about 8 years - they've never had a rent increase and I want to implement one now..., I also don't know if/where the deposit is held.....  I would like to put a new tenant's agreement in place.  Any advice gratefully received, thanks.

Sorry for your loss Gloria.

You can check all of the deposit schemes to see if deposit is protected with one of them.  There are only 3 to check.  https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/check_if_your_tenancy_deposit_is_protected

You don't need to have a written tenancy agreement for an AST (assured shorthold tenancy) to be valid. 

You don't really need an agreement in place (like a fixed term), although I understand it may feel more secure.  The tenants are protected by intrinsic tenant rights anyway.  They will be on a periodic, or rolling tenancy now that their fixed term has come to an end.  I refer these as it gives me more power/flexibility to get the tenant out if I need to.

You do not need to have a written AST in place to raise the rent.

Raising the rent though, going forward, is less painful for you and the tenant if you can do it regularly rather than in one big 8 years worth in one go.  That's probably going to be hard to stomach despite having it so cheap for so long.