Tenancy Agreement

[TMAngel]

We are moving to Spain in 3 Months and will be renting our house in the UK. Initially we were going to do this through a rental agency but now a friend is very interested and we are happy to do this privately - saves on the rental agency fees as well!

But, although she is a friend I still want a legal tenancy agreement in case anything goes wrong. I know legally what certificates etc we have to get and these are being organised, my query is the tenancy agreement.

Rather than use a solicitor etc can anyone point my in the right direction to download a tenancy agreement or does anyone have a copy they would be willing to share perhaps? Ideally this will be a 6 month let to begin with. Is this possible or does it need to be done professionally???

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks!

[wino]

WH Smiths use to do tenancy agreements and rent books. Have a look there

[MrShed]

As if you are renting out, you must have a contact name and address in England and Wales(assuming the property is in England or Wales), I cannot recommend strongly enough that you go through a letting agent. It may be a friend, but you will be surprised how quickly such friendships can turn sour where money/agreements are involved. Not saying it will, but in worst case scenario, if you do not provide a proper agreement or legal contact details, your friend will not be legally liable to pay rent, nor will you be able to evict them without a lot of work from your side.

[Aequitas]

I live in Spain. What do the expatriates have to say about agents? They are ripping them off. One person has told me that he has not had a clear month's rent since moving abroad. Every month some minor repair is found that costs a fortune to sort out.

If you are going to retain the services of an agent make it crystal clear that no expense is to be incurred wthout your prior consent and only after three estimates have been obtained. Your best bet is an old established firm of chartered surveyors that has a letting department. Check them out and make sure they are all wearing tweeds and flannels (and that includes the secretaries!).

[TMAngel]

Thanks for all the responses.

Although the tenants are friends of ours we are definitely going to get a legal tenancy agreement drawn up just in case. I know friendships can breakdown through money issues etc and we need to cover ourselves as well financially.

We have decided not to go through a letting agent because I do know people who have had bad experiences. Also they are charging between 10-12% commission every month so if we do it private we can get the full rental.

We are going to consult a local solictor and get a tenancy agreement drawn up with them. At least legally we will be covered and it's actually not going to cost that much to get the agreement drawn up -about £80.

How's life in Spain? We are looking to move out to Costa Blanca as the in-laws moved there 2 years ago. Luckily I can continue working from home so it's just my OH who needs to find some work (but we'll be ok for a few months at least)

If you know of any good agents or private long term rentals in Costa Blanca let me know!!

[MrShed]

TMA - do you have an address still in England and Wales that you can put on the tenancy agreement? This is vital.

[TMAngel]

Hi. Yes we can use my parents address for all correspondence.

Will that be ok for the agreement?

[MrShed]

Yes that would be fine.

[Aequitas]

Remember the address you give is the address for all official purposes, most importantly notices.

[Esio Trot]

Originally Posted by Aequitas

I live in Spain. What do the expatriates have to say about agents? They are ripping them off. One person has told me that he has not had a clear month's rent since moving abroad. Every month some minor repair is found that costs a fortune to sort out.

If you are going to retain the services of an agent make it crystal clear that no expense is to be incurred wthout your prior consent and only after three estimates have been obtained.

Our office has never to my knowledge ripped off any landlord. Should any overseas landlord insist on no expense without prior consent and only after three estimates have been obtained, I would agree this but my management fee would be increased to compensate for the extra work involved in this (how many times have you asked a contractor (or a few sometimes) for an estimate, and never got it even after reminders.

Having said the above, round our way the agents commission structure for management seems to be the key decider, regardless of the service level offered. If you are cheap you get the instruction - if not, you don't.

Thus many landlords, sadly, deserve to be ripped off. They have an asset worth six figures and they penny pinch on fees, not realising that being out of the country means they have to give a lot of trust to an agent. I am aware in our town of agents who sub-let; make fictitious invoices for non-existent repairs from a "contractor" who is in fact an associated company of the agent; and never inspect the property.

One agent in the town has this clause in their standard terms (and this clause has been there since 2002 that I know of, and probably earlier than this) that has to be the most audacious I have ever seen:

m) The Agent reserves the right to increase fees and/or commission from time to time without notifying the landlord in advance in writing.

I can't see how any landlord would sign up to this. Yet this agent is ARLA registered and is the biggest in the town with over 1,300 managed properties.