Question

Tenant References and Guarantors (England) | Types of Tenancies (England)

Pitfalls of a company let?

13 Dec 2017 | 1 comment

We have some applicants who have applied for a tenancy but the references are not good e.g. Unable to provide proof of earnings, poor credit score etc. The director of the company some of the applicants work for has called to say he will rent the property as a company let and allow the applicants to live in the property. We are not that keen but what are the pitfalls and checks we should be aware of? Thank you in advance

Answer

1 Comment

  1. guildy

    Although there can be advantages to a landlord of letting to a company (for example deposit protection doesn’t apply and it’s a slighter shorter notice required), the reality is because they aren’t very common, when problems occur it can be more difficult to obtain possession. Especially if the company tenancy is ended but the occupiers remain in the property, then it can get very complicated because you won’t always know their names and other problems.

    The best way to do this from what you describe is to give the tenants a normal assured shorthold tenancy in the normal way and make the director who contacted you a guarantor for the tenancy. In theory, the company itself could be a guarantor but it would be much easier and better for you if it’s a personal guarantee from an individual. As the guarantee agreement is a deed it can be complex getting the correct signatures for a deed to be binding against a company.

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