A tenancy agreement is the document which will be drawn up prior to the renting of a property. At its most basic level, it is the agreement between the landlord(s) and the tenant as to what the terms of the tenancy will be, including both the length of the tenancy and the amount of rent payable on a weekly or monthly basis.
Safeguarding Your Finances
A tenancy agreement will often stipulate more than just time and money, however. Contained within a tenancy agreement will also be many more clauses which relate to the behaviour of both the landlord(s) and the tenant, insofar as that behaviour affects the value and safety of the property, or sometimes even the reputation of the landlord.
Often, these agreements will be agreed upon with regards to a financial deposit. So for this reason, it’s important than the tenant understands the tenancy agreement fully before committing to it.
Reading Thoroughly
It’s important that you read any legal document thoroughly before signing it, and since a tenancy agreement is such a document this standard also applies here. If you have a problem with either reading or understanding a tenancy agreement, it’s advisable that you have someone help you do so. This will ensure that you go into your tenancy in complete awareness of your obligations.
Finding Legal Advice
It’s sometimes the case that, before you sign a tenancy agreement, you may wish to seek out legal advice. This might be because you don’t understand the terms, or because you are worried that some of the terms might violate your basic rights as a tenant. Luckily, the UK has many free legal advice resources – such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau – which are fully trained to offer just this kind of help.
Advice for Landlords
It’s not just tenants who might have trouble understanding the terms of a tenancy agreement – or, in fact, what should or shouldn’t be included in the first place. First time landlords may also be at a loss as to how to draw up these all-important documents, and could well place themselves or their properties in jeopardy as a result.
But thankfully there are ways to make this process much simpler, as companies such as Let’s Move You offer a tenancy agreement service which will furnish you with completed copies of all required paperwork.
Never Sign Anything You Don’t Understand
We live in a society where it’s become the norm to sign all sorts of bits of paper as soon as they are put under our noses – from mobile phone contracts to insurance cover. But when it comes to your living arrangements, this type of approach can be very dangerous. So always remember that if you still don’t understand your tenancy agreement, you don’t have to sign it.
