Please view or download the example tenancy agreement below.
Whether you choose to live in a council property, private house or flat or a housing association property, you should have a tenancy agreement.
A TENANCY AGREEMENT IS A WRITTEN CONTRACT BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR LANDLORD AND IT IS A LEGAL DOCUMENT. IT WILL INCORPORATE CURRENT LAWS RELATING TO A TENANCY AGREEMENT.
Your tenancy agreement may seem very boring to read, but this offers you protection if something goes wrong. It tells you what sort of tenancy you have and will provide details such as, for example, who can access your property, which rooms are seen as private space, what is expected of you in regard to repairs and whether any food or bills are included. The tenancy agreement should be signed by you and your landlord and you should have a copy, if possible, it should be witnessed by a family member or support worker.
It is essential that you read your tenancy agreement or get support from someone to read it with you. Citizens Advice Bureau, your Support Worker or other support agencies can help with this. The most important thing is that you know what you are signing up for; you don’t want a shock a short time later when there is, for example, a rent increase that you had agreed to in the tenancy agreement.
It’s good practice for a written tenancy agreement to include by law the following details:
- Your name and your landlord’s name and the address of the property which is being let
- The date the tenancy began
- Details of whether other people are allowed the use of the property and, if so, which rooms
- The duration of the tenancy, that is, whether it runs out on a certain date
- The amount of rent payable, how often and when it should be paid and how often and when it can be increased
- What the rent includes – for example, council tax or fuel
- Whether your landlord will provide any services – for example, laundry services, maintenance of communal areas and whether there are service charges for these
- The notice period you and your landlord need to give to end the tenancy – there are statutory rules about how much notice to give and this will depend on the type of tenancy and why it’s ending
- Details of your landlord’s obligations to repair the property. Your landlord’s obligations to repair will depend on the type of tenancy
There are 4 main types of tenancy agreements which are explained below:
Licence Agreement
This is a less formal tenancy agreement and is used when the tenant is sharing the accommodation with their landlord or other tenants (ie shared accommodation). For example, if you live in a shared house with 2 other people where you share the facilities (kitchen/bathroom), you would most likely be on a licence agreement.
To end a licence agreement, the landlord or tenant should give notice in writing.
Introductory Tenancy/Secure Tenancy
Introductory Tenancy – An introductory tenancy is a one-year trial tenancy. It gives you most of the same rights as a secure tenancy but you can be evicted if regularly breaching your tenancy agreement. As long as you don’t break your tenancy agreement while you are an introductory tenant, you will automatically become a secure tenant
Secure Tenancy – Some council tenants become secure tenants. A secure tenancy is a lifetime tenancy agreement (as long as you abide by the terms set out in your tenancy agreement). The council may offer a fixed term tenancy called a flexible tenancy. This is a type of tenancy that lasts for a specified length of time i.e. 5 years.
Assured Shorthold Tenancy
This is the most common type of agreement used by landlords to let residential properties to private tenants. AST’s are typically given for a period of six months but can be for longer. After this initial agreed period, you can continue for another six months at a time but the landlord is also able to end the tenancy if they wish to, giving reasonable notice
Verbal Agreement
Sometimes landlords let properties out to people and they may have a verbal tenancy agreement. It is still a form of tenancy agreement. However, this type of agreement is not recommended. People may struggle if they don’t have this agreement in writing and signed. It can be hard to prove what was said and there is no proof of what you and the landlord agreed.