WHAT IS AN ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY ?

Contracts and paperwork are definitely not what most people want to be reading when they sit down for a nice cuppa in the morning, but if you are looking to rent a property as a landlord or tenant, it’s important to know the facts.

You could go and read the Housing Act in its entirety, but to be honest, it would be more interesting to watch your kettle boiling over and over again for about 5 years than read all that. Instead, what we suggest you should do is let a good agent deal with your tenancy and let them worry about the legislation side of things. We recommend Latham Smith, but hey, we own the company so we would!

In brief, an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) is the main type of tenancy agreement used in England and Wales. It offers the best protection for landlords and tenants and was introduced by the Housing Act in 1988 and covers the majority of tenancies used where private residential landlords are involved.

There are very few situations that would warrant not using an AST and these include such scenarios as when it would be a company and not an individual taking up the tenancy or where the rent exceeds £100,000 per annum. These scenarios automatically fall outside of the Housing Act criteria. Don’t worry if you fall into one of these other categories, at Latham Smith we have the right agreement to cover any situation.

We would urge you to check your tenancy agreement thoroughly as at the end of the day, it is a legally binding document protecting both parties as comprehensively as possible.

Common mistakes and lapses in detail are common, including miss-spelling of tenant and landlord names, getting the rental amounts wrong, dates inserted incorrectly, not including prescribed information for the deposit holding, the list goes on and on. At the end of the day, this is a legally binding document and it is all in the detail as they say. If you are a landlord we understand you want to protect your biggest asset and if you are a tenant you want to protect your deposit and own interests. It is vital therefore, that both parties use a good, professional tenancy agreement.

One final thought on this. You can pay £100k for a top of the Range Land Rover Sport, but you can still get a second hand Land Rover with 75000 miles on the clock for £25k… are they the same thing? Well, yes, but no! With anything in life, you get what you pay for and it would be our advice to perhaps spend a little more and in exchange have total peace of mind that you are getting the best possible tenancy agreement; and it won’t cost you anywhere near the price of a Land Rover!

Want to keep everything professional and easy, call Latham Smith for all your letting property needs.

Call us on 01923 447192 or email at lettings@lathamsmith.co.uk