Tenancy agr eements
The tenancy agreement is a contract between you and us. The tenancy agreement gives certain rights to both you and us. An example is your right to occupy the accommodation and our right to receive rent for letting the accommodation.
Both you and we have rights and responsibilities given by law. The tenancy agreement can give you both more than your statutory rights, but cannot give you less than your statutory rights.
A tenancy agreement can be made up of
Express terms These include what is in the written tenancy agreement, the rent book, and/or what was agreed orally.
Implied terms These are rights given by law or arrangements established by custom and practice.
Different types of tenancy agreements
Assured short hold tenancy
This is the most common type of tenancy agreement. It gives you a legal right to live in your accommodation for a period of time. It also offers the landlord a guaranteed right to repossess his property at the end of the tenancy.
Assured tenancy
Assured tenants have stronger rights than most other private tenants. These types of tenancies are usually granted by housing associations. They mean that as long as you do not break the terms of the tenancy agreement, you can continue to live in the property for an agreed period.
Secure tenancy
Secure tenants have stronger rights against eviction than most other private tenants. A letting of all or part of a house, flat, maisonette, or bungalow made before January 15 1989 is normally a secure tenancy.
Starter tenancies
Starter tenancies are a form of assured shorthold tenancies given to new tenants who have not previously held a tenancy. They are for 12 months initially, but can be extended to eighteen months, and if the tenancy has been satisfactory then it automatically converts to a full assured tenancy. Starter tenancies can only be ended by a court order.
More details are in the handbook or by calling your neighbourhood officer.
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