What Kind Of Tenancy Agreement Will Be Used?
The most common form
of tenancy agreement used is an "Assured Shorthold" (an AST) under
the 1988 Housing Act (amended 1996). This type of tenancy offers
the most flexibility to both landlord and tenant; has
straightforward notice procedures for bringing the tenancy to an
end and a special Accelerated Possession court procedure should
tenants fail to vacate.
If certain specific conditions are met relating to the proposed
letting, a "contractual" non-housing act tenancy must be created.
One example of this would be what is commonly referred to as a
Company Let where the tenant is a bona fide registered company,
another would be where the annual rent equates to over
£100,000.
Very rarely, a prospective tenant may be offered a full "Assured"
tenancy that gives very significant and potentially long-term
security of tenure to a tenant and, for which a landlord can only
get possession in very limited circumstances.
Most ARLA members will have their own "in-house" agreements which
are usually much more comprehensive than ones bought in a local
stationers or Post Office etc. Following lengthy consultation with
the Office of Fair Trading, ARLA created and now sells a model
Assured Shorthold Agreement to both members and non-members.