Tenancy Agreements

It is important to have a tenancy agreement in place to help protect your legal rights. Tenancy agreements can help prevent disputes about the terms of the tenancy and will contain terms to help protect both the landlord’s and the tenant’s positions. Furthermore, if the tenant is on benefits, the benefits agency will require an up to date tenancy agreement.

It is not necessary to have a tenancy agreement in place by law, but without a signed agreement in place, you will be unable to evict the tenant should it be necessary.

Any tenancy agreement must be fair, otherwise it could be thrown out by the courts during a dispute for unfair contract brought about by the tenant. Clauses in assured shorthold tenancy agreements that prohibit certain things, e.g., fitting satellite dishes to properties, pets, smoking, etc., must contain the words "permission not to be unreasonably withheld" otherwise the chances are the contract is unfair.

You should provide a tenancy agreement to the tenant before they go into occupation. Once a tenant is in occupation of the property, they can refuse to sign and you may then find it difficult to evict them. Under no circumstances should you ever allow a tenant into occupation of your property before they have signed the tenancy agreement.

You should ensure that your tenancy agreement is up to date, as the law changes from time to time, and tenancy agreements that are valid when purchased one year may contain invalid clauses the next. If you use an out of date agreement with invalid clauses, it can have serious consequences, for example, it may be more difficult to evict the tenant.

Our tenancy agreements have been prepared by Training for Professionals. The agreements are regularly reviewed to ensure that they meet current legislation. Training for Professionals retains ownership of the copyright of the agreements, and they are sold on the basis that they are not transferable.

When you purchase one of our tenancy agreements, you will need to complete a short information form online and you will then receive your document in a PDF format within minutes.  The agreement generated will contain the necessary relevant clauses pertinent to the information you provide

Please note that our tenancy agreements are not 'off the shelf' agreements that you simply print and fill in - we would advise against these as they may not provide adequate protection for you and your property.  

Please note that if you are taking a deposit from the tenant, then you must use a deposit protection scheme to protect the deposit (see our advice section on deposit protection), and you will need to provide the tenant with information regarding whichever scheme you choose.

These tenancy agreements are not suitable for company lets and are for use only within England and Wales.

Please note, if you are uncertain about your legal rights, then you should always consult a qualified solicitor

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