Prior to signing tenancy agreements, you might come into contact with some terms you are unfamiliar with.
Here are some common terms you are likely to come into contact with and an explanation of what they each mean.
An Assured Shorthold Tenancy is the most frequently used tenancy agreement and is also referred to as an ‘AST’.
A local authority tax that applies to England, Wales and Scotland. It is the responsibility of the tenant to pay.
Before a tenancy agreement is signed you will be referenced by your agent or landlord. Many agents and individual landlords use specialist referencing companies who will contact your employer (or an accountant if you are self-employed), your current landlord and also check out your credit history to assess your ability to pay the rent.
Damage to a property or contents that is considered to be more than acceptable wear and tear.
In a bid to improve tenant safety, the government has introduced new requirements for landlords to demonstrate that any electrical installations, such as wiring and electrical sockets, have been tested by a qualified electrician.
Landlords previously had to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report for every property they owned for new tenancies, and since 1 April 2021, they also need to have one for existing tenancies.
In addition, landlords need to ensure inspections are carried out at least every five years and the tenants are given a copy of the report within 28 days of it being issued.
Landlords in Scotland have been given an extended timeline in which to install heat alarms in kitchens, smoke alarms in living rooms, halls and landings, which must all be interlinked, and carbon monoxide alarms near any carbon-fuelled boilers, fires or heaters.
The new measures, which are in response to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, had been due to come into force on 1 February 2021.
However, the Scottish Parliament has delayed the requirement until February 2022.
All properties offered for let require Energy Performance Certificates (EPC). An EPC provides a rating of a property’s energy efficiency, running costs and environmental impact rating (carbon emissions) based on the property’s condition on a given date. EPC’s are quite similar to the energy graphs you see when you buy a new appliance like a washing machine.
The contents of a rented property that may include window coverings, light fittings, carpets, kitchen units and white goods are called “fixtures and fittings”. If you are renting a furnished property, it may also include furniture.
A guarantor is someone who agrees to sign a tenancy agreement and in effect guarantees that they will undertake the full obligations under the tenancy agreement on the tenant’s behalf. If for some reason the tenant cannot pay the rent, the guarantor will make the payments.
A holding deposit is an amount of money paid to a landlord or letting agent to reserve a rental property before the signing of a tenancy agreement. A holding deposit is normally non-refundable if you were to withdraw your application for the tenancy. If the tenancy proceeds, the amount of the holding deposit is deducted from the rent.
The inventory is a listing of the contents of a property. This list can include the state and condition of a property (including the garden) and can cover whether the property is clean or dirty and the state and repair of fixtures and fittings such as power points, furniture, windows etc.
At the start of the tenancy, there should be an inventory to “check in” with the tenant and then at the end of the tenancy the tenant should be “checked out”. Agents and landlords may use a third party inventory clerk to carry out the inventory.
Where there is more than one adult living in the property, the tenancy agreement will state that they are ‘jointly and severally’ responsible. That means that tenants are liable for the payment of the rent by all the other tenants, as well as any breach of the tenancy agreement by any of the other tenants as well as their own portion of the rent and responsibility.
The period of time that a tenant or landlord must give to end the tenancy agreement.
A periodic tenancy is a tenancy that continues for successive periods until the tenant gives the landlord notice that they want to end the tenancy. When an Assured Shorthold Tenancy ends, it will become a periodic tenancy unless the tenant signs a renewal agreement.
PCM is a short-form referring to the rental amount being paid on a per calendar month basis.
The landlord is legally required to make certain information regarding the tenancy deposit protection scheme protecting the deposit, the deposit and specified tenancy related information available to the tenant or tenants.
At the end of the fixed term of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy some tenants and landlords choose to renew the tenancy for another fixed term. That gives the tenant a bit more security. Landlords may also ask a tenant to sign a renewal if they want to change the terms of your tenancy agreement and that could include raising the cost of the rent.
From the 1st October, 2015 regulations in England require smoke alarms to be installed on each floor of a rental property. If the property has open fires or log burners it should also have a Carbon Monoxide alarm in the room, although surprisingly, at the moment, this requirement does not extend to gas boilers.
The landlord is required to check that the smoke alarms are working on the first day of the tenancy and there will normally be a requirement in the tenancy agreement for the tenant to regularly check them too during the course of the tenancy.
The value of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms cannot be underestimated: not having a working smoke alarm makes the risk of dying in a fire at least four times greater.
A standing order is an instruction to a bank to an account holder to make regular fixed payments to a particular person or company and is often used to pay rent, usually on a monthly basis. The standing order payments can be set up to finish by a particular date or will continue until cancelled by the tenant. It is worth noting that only the person whose bank account the funds are coming from can cancel the standing order. A standing order is not the same as a Direct Debit which is a payment method more often used when payments change from month to month.
A tenancy agreement is usually agreed and signed before a property is let out. It is a contract between a landlord and a tenant(s) that sets out the terms and conditions of their rental agreement.
A new law on residential letting fees, which came into force on 1st June 2019, means it is now illegal for landlords and estate agents to charge renters extra fees.
The Tenant Fees Act applies to new tenancies and renewals of tenancies, meaning that landlords and letting agents aren’t able to charge for a range of admin fees that they previously had, and tenancy deposits are now capped to five weeks.
For properties in England, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 means that in addition to rent, lettings agents can only charge tenants (or anyone acting on the tenant’s behalf) the following permitted payments:
- Holding deposits (a maximum of 1 week’s rent)
- Deposits (a maximum deposit of 5 weeks’ rent for annual rent below £50,000, or 6 weeks’ rent for annual rental of £50,000 and above)
- Payments to change a tenancy agreement eg. change of sharer (capped at £50 or, if lower, any reasonable costs)
- Payments associated with early termination of a tenancy (capped at the landlord’s loss or the agent’s reasonably incurred costs)
- Utilities, communication services (eg. telephone, broadband), TV licence and council tax
- Interest payments for the late payment of rent (up to 3% above Bank of England’s annual percentage rate)Reasonable costs for replacement of lost keys or other security devices
- Contractual damages in the event of the tenant’s default of a tenancy agreement
- Any other permitted payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019
When your tenancy commences you will take responsibility for the payment of all the utilities, including gas, electricity, water, and council tax along with the cost of any media and TV licences. If you are eligible for a discount on your council tax (for example because you live alone or are a student) you would need to apply to the council directly to have this discount applied as the landlord or agent cannot do this for you.
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Out Of Normal Office Hours Emergency Enquiries
An emergency is something that would endanger life or property unless responded to promptly.
If an emergency as listed below occurs out of normal office hours, public holidays or otherwise, please leave a message on the office voicemail facility 01472 694 963 or email office@taylorslincs.co.uk
Routine repairs should be reported during normal office hours. Faults that would be classified as routine are not an emergency.
EMERGENCY REQUESTS
Definition of an Emergency that may require immediate attention: Where lives or health are at risk or there is serious risk to the property.
Permanent repairs may be carried out at a later date - the priority is to ensure safety.
The following problems are examples of the type of situation that would be considered as emergencies:
- total loss of electric power;
- unsafe, broken or missing electrical fitting (not simply defective) comprising a dangerous fault that is immediately life threatening;
- total loss of gas supply;
- gas leak on the property side of the meter;
- blocked, damaged or defective flue to an open fire or gas appliance;
- total loss of space heating or water heating (between 1 November and 31 March only) for those with special needs such as disabled, young baby etc;
- blocked toilet pan if only one in house, soil stack or blocked foul drain;
- leak from a water supply pipe, heating pipe, tank or cistern;
- Securing the property, eg, doors, windows after a burglary OR boarding up a broken window or door;
- loss of heating or hot water in housing for the elderly.
Reporting of the above emergencies we will, where possible, return your call as soon as possible to offer guidance and assistance.
No guarantee can be given as to availability or response times of local contractors.
Sometimes delays are unavoidable due to availability of assistance, time of year, peak periods etc. and are no different from those experienced by owner-occupiers.
Organising Repairs outside of hours
Please note that you must not authorise repairs to the property or incur any unauthorised expenses without the express permission of the agent, unless an emergency handled by you in accordance with the tenancy agreement. The cost of any work authorised by you or someone acting on your behalf conducted without our agreement or in accordance with the tenancy agreement may not be reimbursed.