The Leaving Clause
Very old contracts give the tenants a right to remain their whole life, at a fixed rent. I was told that Mrs Thatcher changed some of the rules. A modern (2023) contract, known as a short Tenancy Agreement, is often for two years. The get out clause is traditionally one month, but may be two months, or even six months. It works both ways. Affecting both tenant and landlord equally.
Why You Need An Inventory
You may wish to add pages to the contract, especially to the inventory if things break or wear out and are replaced by either the tenant of the landlord. With the best will in the world, whatever that landlord and tenant say is okay, somebody could forget, or the person overseeing the end of the tenancy might not be them, but their children, or an agent.
Why you need the moving in date
You need the date of moving in, and an inventory, for several reasons, including
1 When the rent is due.
2 When the contract should be reissued or re-worded.
3 When the new items from the start date are still under guarantee if both the tenant and landlord want to make a claim under guarantee against the supplier of the goods.
Furniture & Fittings - What could go wrong?
1 The screw-in legs fall off the sofa. The support panel into which the legs fix breaks.
2 The sliders for the chest of drawers bend so that the drawers cannot be pulled in and out.
3 The surface of the table comes off.
4 The curtain rods pull out of the walls.
5 A shelf is missing in a kitchen cupboard.
6 The curtains don't meet. They don't have linings. They don't have tie-backs.
What Extras Could Be Provided By Suppliers?
A guarantee inside the box which would be thrown away. Ask the tenant to sticky tape it to the machine, with the call number for repairs, and date of purchase to prove you are within the guarantee period.
You might leave spare light bulbs. A box of instructions for all machines such as the washing machine, dishwasher, boiler, central heating.
Trouble shooting guide.
7 You rent to a husband and wife. She is pregnant and has a baby, then another every year for five years. Her parents move over from overseas. The couple you know go home to the middle or far east and people you don't know claiming to be her brother or his cousin are in the house and speak little English and expect extra keys to be made for free.
Your tenants are overseas with keys whilst leaks from the flat overhead are damaging their flat and the one below, whilst you are on holiday overseas.
Council Tax
Make sure that the contract says if the tenant has to pay council tax, and, if so, how much that will be. Also that it is the tenant's responsibility to both inform the council that they have occupied the tenancy, and to permit the landlord to give their address and/or phone/email to the council.
Number Of Tenants
Check how many people are allowed to live in the dwelling and if you will want more money to cover additional people or pets. A childless couple might move in and then have a baby a year for half a dozen years.
They could move in a tenant, flatmate, fianceée, widowed parents, carer.
They might hold parties or prayer meetings or club meetings.
They might. ask for permission for a cat which attracts a partner animal from the wild and then has two kittens so your one cat becomes four.
They might decide they don't want your furniture and want to move in their own, leaving you to sell or throw away the furniture or pay to store it. Then they move out leaving you with none.
Tenants claim to have lost or mislaid the second doorkeys or the garage doorkeys.
Most agencies want all keys numbered in an envelope. You might prefer to have all keys in the locks of windows and doors.
