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AGREE19 - Agreement for Letting an Unfurnished Dwelling on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy OS - (4 pages)
Range: Landlord & Tenant
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available in a software package, as part of a complete range: details
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available as a paper form,
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Code: 5004376 |
Paper Form Pricing Matrix
| Copies |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
10 |
20 |
30 |
50 |
100 |
| £ |
4.75 |
8.70 |
11.85 |
14.60 |
16.25 |
32.50 |
54.00 |
73.50 |
117.50 |
225.00 |
| (each) |
4.75 |
4.35 |
3.95 |
3.65 |
3.25 |
3.25 |
2.70 |
2.45 |
2.35 |
2.25 |
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Editorial history
| Mar 2007 |
Tenancy Agreement Forms |
Details
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Further Information
ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY (Unfurnished Letting)
1. Forms used
2. Background information
3. Guidance on completing the forms
4. List of useful organisations and addresses
1. Forms used
Tenancy agreement- Agreement 19
To be used by a landlord who wishes to let the whole of an unfurnished property to a tenant (whether the property is a house or a self-contained flat), and who wishes to state a fixed term for the letting.
Deposit agreement - LDA
[reference] To be used if the landlord wants to take a deposit from the tenant. The deposit will be repayable by the landlord at the end of the tenancy, except that the landlord may deduct from the deposit the cost of making good any damage done by the tenant or any disrepair which is the tenant's responsibility under the tenancy agreement.
Repossession notices
Housing Act 21 Notice requiring possession at the end of two months. To be used when the notice is served by the landlord on the tenant before or on the day when the fixed period stated in the tenancy agreement comes to an end.
Housing Act 21A Notice requiring possession at the end of two months. To be used when the notice was not served by the landlord on the tenant before or on the day on which the fixed period stated in the tenancy agreement came to an end.
Housing Act 32 Notice of intention to seek a court order for possession before the fixed term stated in the tenancy agreement.
To establish a right to a possession order in such a case, the landlord will have to show that one of the grounds set out in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 as amended exists and that the agreement allows the landlord to recover possession on such a ground. The form is a prescribed form which covers this situation and others.
2. Background Information
1. Agreement 19 is produced for use where the landlord wishes to let property unfurnished and to create a particular form of tenancy called an assured shorthold tenancy ("AST") to which special rules for recovering possession apply. Those rules are set out in the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Housing Act 1996.
2. Since 28th February 1997 most lettings of residential property to an individual have created an AST if the property is let as a separate dwelling. There are a few exceptional cases set out in Schedule 2A to the Housing Act 1988 in which an AST will not be created. These include cases in which:
(a) the intended tenant already has statutory protection for his or her occupation of the property;
(b) the intended tenant has previously been in occupation of the property under an assured tenancy which was not an AST; or
(c) the agricultural worker condition set out in the Act is fulfilled.
If you think any of these circumstances may apply, you should not use Agreement 19 without taking legal advice.
3. If you do use Agreement 19, you will grant the tenant the right to occupy the property for a stated period. Such a tenancy is called a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy. It is common for the fixed period to be at least six months. Even if you state a shorter period, the court will not make a possession order on the ground that that period has expired which takes effect earlier than six months from the beginning of the tenancy (or the beginning of the original tenancy, if the AST came into being on the coming to an end of an earlier AST).
4. If you want the tenant to leave at the end of the period stated in the tenancy agreement, you should serve form Housing Act 21 (HA 21) on the tenant at least two months before the period expires. A notice in form HA 21 may also be given at any time up to the last day of the fixed period, but you must still give the tenant two months to leave the property.
5. If you do not serve a form HA 21 notice on the tenant by the end of the last day of the fixed period, the tenancy you have created will continue after that period comes to an end. The tenancy will change from a fixed term AST to a periodic assured shorthold tenancy. The new period will usually be the period by reference to which rent is paid, so that if rent is paid monthly it will be a monthly periodic AST. The tenancy will continue from period to period until it is brought to an end. The tenant may bring it to an end by giving notice to quit, which must usually be at least as long as a period of the tenancy and must expire at the end of such a period. (The exception to the rule that the notice must be as long as a period of the tenancy is in the case when the tenancy is a yearly tenancy. The notice then need not be more than six months, but it must still expire at the end of a period of the tenancy. It is very rare for an AST to be a yearly tenancy.) You may bring it to an end by serving notice in form Housing Act 21A (HA 21A), which must be served at least two months before the date it is to take effect and must expire at the end of a period of the tenancy.
By way of example, suppose you grant a tenancy in the form of Agreement 19 for six months starting on 1st March and the rent is paid monthly, but you do not serve a form HA 21 notice before 1st September. In the middle of November you decide you want to recover the property. The earliest you can do so is at the end of January in the following year, and to do that you must serve a form HA 21A notice on the tenant by the end of November. If the tenant were to decide in November that he or she wanted to leave, the earliest at which the tenancy could end would be the end of December and notice to quit would have to be given by the end of November to achieve that.
6. If you want to end an AST before the end of the fixed term, or before the end of a period of the tenancy, you will need to get a possession order from the court. You can only do so on a ground stated in the tenancy agreement which is also a ground which Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 allows you to rely on. Agreement 20 allows you to rely on grounds based on non-payment of rent or breach of the terms of the agreement, but you will have to make sure that the words of Schedule 2 are satisfied. If you think that there is such a ground, you must serve a notice in form Housing Act 32 (HA 32) on the tenant. HA 32 is the form of notice prescribed under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and tells you which grounds you can rely on if the fixed term has not yet expired. (Although you may be able to rely on additional grounds if the tenancy has become periodic, if you do so you will not be able to get possession more quickly than by serving notice in form HA 21A.) HA 32 requires you to set out the statutory words of the ground (or grounds) you rely on, as well as stating which it is (or they are).
7. If there is more than one landlord, forms HA 21, HA 21A and HA 32 do not have to be signed by each of them, but the person who signs should make sure he or she has the agreement of the other landlord or landlords to giving the notice.
8. When you have completed Agreement 19 and it has been signed, it is advisable for you to contact your nearest Inland Revenue Stamp Office within the next 30 days to see if the form needs to be stamped. (The Office will have leaflets about stamping procedures and will be able to help you.) This is because if an agreement does need to be stamped, the courts do not have to accept an unstamped document in evidence. This could cause difficulties if there is a dispute between you and your tenant. Lists of Stamp Offices are shown in section 4. The amount of stamp duty depends upon the amount of the rent, the length of time the agreement will last and whether any premium is payable (that is, a sum of money paid at the beginning of the tenancy which is not returnable).
3. Guidance on completing the forms
Agreement 19
Date Insert the date on which the AST is signed by the tenant or tenants.
Landlord Insert the landlord's full name and address. If there is more than one, give the name and address of each landlord.
Tenant Insert the tenant's full name and address. If there is more than one, give the name and address of each tenant.
Property Insert the address or other identifying description of the property which is the subject of the AST.
Term Insert the length of the fixed period for which the property is to be let (e.g., six months. See section 2, para. 3).
Start date Insert the date from which the fixed period is to run.
Rent Insert the amount of the rent and the period for which each payment of rent is made.
Payable Insert the frequency with which rent is to be paid and when in a payment period the payment is to be made.
Note: the following examples may help you fill in the "rent" and "payable" terms.
1. Rent £600 per month payable in advance by equal monthly payments on the 1st day of each month.
2. Rent £1,800 per quarter payable in advance by equal monthly payments on the 1st day of each month.
3. Rent £1,800 per quarter payable in advance by equal quarterly payments on the 1st day of March, June, September and December.
First payment Insert the date on which the first payment is to be made.
After clause 4(13) If the landlord and the tenant agree that the tenant should undertake any additional obligations, they should be listed here. Each separate obligation should be numbered sequentially. Use an additional sheet of paper if necessary and attach it to the agreement. If there are no additional obligations, leave the space blank.
After clause 6(2) If the landlord and the tenant agree that the landlord should undertake any additional obligations, they should be listed here. Each separate obligation should be numbered sequentially. Use an additional sheet of paper if necessary and attach it to the agreement. If there are no additional obligations, leave the space blank.
Notice of Landlord's address Insert an address in England and Wales at which the tenant may serve notices on the landlord. Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires the landlord to notify the tenant of such an address.
Landlord's Signature Insert the name of the landlord, or of each of them, in the space below "Signed by the above-named", and sign to the right of the bracket. The witness should sign below the words "in the presence of".
Tenant's Signature Insert the name of the tenant, or of each of them, in the space below "Signed by the above-named", and get the tenant or tenants to sign to the right of the bracket. The witness should sign below the words "in the presence of".
Date Insert the same date as on the first page.
"and" Insert the name of the landlord, or of each of them, before the word "and" and the name of the tenant, or each of them, after it.
"dwelling-house at" Insert the same address or description of the property as on the first page.
Rent Insert the amount of the rent as on the first page.
4. Useful organisations and addresses
Landlords can obtain advice from the following organisation, which was created specifically to advise them in landlord and tenant matters:
The Small Landlords Association,
53, Werter Road,
Putney,
London SW15 [complete post code]
Helpful booklets on assured and assured shorthold tenancies can be obtained free of charge from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions at the following address:
DETR Free Literature,
P.O. Box 236,
Wetherby,
West Yorkshire LS23 7NB
Tel. No.: 0870 1226 236
Fax No.: 0870 1226 237
e-mail: detr@twoten.press.net
The Inland Revenue maintains a Stamp Office helpline on 0845 603 0135 from which you can learn which is your local Stamp Office or obtain leaflets explaining more about paying stamp duty. The addresses of the various Stamp Offices are as follows:
Birmingham Stamp Office, Bristol Stamp Office,
5th Floor, The Pithay,
Norfolk House, All Saints Street,
Smallbrook Queensway, Bristol BS1 2NY
Birmingham B5 4LA Tel. No.: 0117 972 2022
Tel. No.: 0121 633 3313
London Stamp Office, Manchester Stamp Office,
(personal callers only) Alexandra House,
South West Wing, Parsonage,
Bush House, Manchester M60 9BT
Strand, Tel. No.: 0161 476 1741
London WC2B 4QN
Tel. No.: 020 7438 7252/7452
Newcastle Stamp Office Worthing Stamp Office
15th Floor, (postal applications only)
Cale Cross House, Ground Floor,
156, Pilgrim Street, East Block
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6TF Barrington Road,
Tel. No.: 0191 261 1199 Worthing,
Sussex BN1 4SE
Tel. No.: 01903 508 962
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