Tenant’s Rights In An Assured Shorthold Tenancy

An assured short hold tenancy is a tenancy that gives a tenant the legal right to live in a property for a period of time. A tenancy might be for a set period such as six months (this is known as a fixed term tenancy) or it might roll on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis (this is known as a periodic tenancy).

The tenant has the right to live in the property without being hassled or disturbed. The landlord and any other people cannot enter the property as the tenant has the right to have control over their home.

A landlord cannot limit or otherwise interfere with a tenant’s right to live in their accommodation or they could be found guilty of harassment.

The law says that a landlord has to keep the property in good repair. This includes the structure and exterior of the property.

Examples are:

Gas, electricity, heating, water and sanitation must be kept in good repair by you the landlord. Your property should have the relevant gas safety certificates for all the gas appliances in your property and any furniture given by you must be fire proof.

Your tenant has certain responsibilities when it comes to looking after your property.

The property should have gas safety certificates which are valid for any gas appliances in the property and any furniture which is given by the landlord must be fire proof.

If your tenancy started after March 1997 a tenant the right to ask their landlord to provide a statement of the terms of their tenancy. The information that must be provided is as follows.

If a tenancy has started after March 1997 a tenant has the right have a statement of the terms of their tenancy from their landlord.

This information must be provided within 28 days of a request being made in writing by a tenant.

During a fixed term tenancy a landlord must have a reason to evict a tenant. The reason could be one of the following:

Rent arrears Tenant is regularly late with the rent Terms of the tenancy have been breached Tenant has allowed the condition of the property to deteriorate Property is being repossessed Tenant has caused nuisance or annoyance of some sort

If the landlord decides to evict the tenant during a fixed term tenancy then it could be for one of the following reasons:

Rent arrears Tenant is regularly late with the rent Terms of the tenancy have been breached Tenant has allowed the condition of the property to deteriorate Property is being repossessed Tenant has caused nuisance or annoyance of some sort

To evict the tenant before a fixed term is up the landlord will need to have applied to the court for a possession order. Before serving a possession order he must first serve the tenants with a section 8 notice specifying the grounds of possession.

If your tenant is in a periodic tenancy or their fixed term has come to an end then they can be evicted by serving them with a section 21 periodic notice and also providing the court with a copy of the assured shorthold tenancy.

For further information in regards to how to serve a section 21 periodic notice please visit Landlord Angel.

Your tenant cannot be evicted from your property unless the court has given the order for possession. If you the landlord have followed the correct procedure then the court will have no choice but to grant the possession order.

Your tenant can ask the court to delay the possession for up to six weeks if they can prove that they will face hardship.

If a tenant does not leave even after the possession order has been granted then the landlord can apply to the court to physically remove tenants from a property.

To serve an eviction notice on your tenant in as little as 3 minutes check out Landlord Angel.