An interesting question on the help-line has raised this article. In fairness, it won’t be of much practicality to most of our members but all the same I think it raises interesting questions. Background The member runs a hostel in Cornwall. It is primarily used by backpackers seeking a cheap overnight stay. Occasionally, contractors will seek accommodation for a longer period of time when there is work in the area. The occupier in...

What’s changing? From 1st October 2010, the rent threshold for when a tenancy is an assured or assured shorthold will be increased from £25,000 to £100,000. The legislation making this change is here. From 1 December 2011, the same increase takes effect in Wales Retrospective? It was previously being reported that the change would be retrospective, however this is not the case but all tenancies that are not assured or assured shorthold...

This entry is part 3 of 11 in the series Granting an Assured Shorthold TenancyBefore granting an assured shorthold tenancy, it is worth checking that it can in fact be an assured shorthold as there are several exclusions. Schedule 1 of the Housing Act 1988 contains certain tenancies which cannot be assured or assured shorthold tenancies, for example ... Please login or signup to continue reading this...

Letting to companies Most residential lets are to people, real people who are alive and who physically live in the property. However sometimes lettings are made to a limited company. If this happens there are a number of important differences and a few things to watch out for. continue reading from...

Below is an article taken from the Sunday Times which is not especially helpful. The simple fact is that a tenancy where the rent is greater than £25,000 (£100k from October 2010) per annum can never be an AST but this is a good thing, not a bad thing. It is just as quick to evict a tenant on a common law tenancy (which is the type of tenancy it would be) than it is on an AST. In fact in some cases it can be quicker! From The Sunday Times...