Probationary tenancy? This urban myth is really about the law overriding what landlords want to happen. What many landlords would like, is to have their tenants live in the property for a short probationary period, during which time the landlord can evict the tenant at will, before the tenancy starts properly. Not possible. Sorry! Street…
It is in many ways unfair. Here is a tenant, living in the landlords property and paying no rent, The landlord meantime, still has pay the mortgage, is responsible for keeping the property in repair, and cannot repossess without getting a court order, which normally takes four to five months. However, despite all this, a…
This is a real hangover from the past, but a surprising number of people still think that accepting rent from a tenant they are evicting will somehow prejudice their case. This dates back to pre Housing Act law. For hundreds of years back into the past, landlords have been able to evict tenants under a…
This is a myth largely created by letting agents, as an important part of their income stream comes from charging landlords for ‘renewals’ for tenants. But they are not actually necessary. In a way, this post follows on from my last Urban Myth post about tenants staying on after the fixed term not being squatters….
I do come across this view sometimes. Landlords telling me that their tenant has no right to stay on in their property, because he (the landlord) only agreed to let them live there for (say) six months. In a way the law is rather pitched against landlords. Tenants can leave without penalty at the end…
This myth is based on reality, and is due to the history of the assured shorthold tenancy (AST). Protected tenancies under the Rent Act 1977 When the Housing Act 1988 first introduced ASTs, people were still used to the old Rent Act system of protected tenancies (although protected shortholds had been introduced by the 1980…
This post announces an occasional new series I am starting, which I am calling Urban Myths. This will highlight and discuss ideas prevalent among landlords and tenants (and even sometimes their advisors), which may be based on misleading versions of the truth, or a hangover from past laws, or sometimes just wishful thinking. But all…
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