The term lease usually means the contract or written agreement between a landlord and tenant. It sets out terms and conditions, whereby the tenant is allowed to occupy a property owned by the landlord in exchange for financial compensation.

Deciding to put your terms in writing

Setting down the terms and conditions of a let is one of the most important tasks in letting and should be studied carefully.

Looking at what the law has to say about letting

The law has a lot to say about landlords, tenants and their tenancies. It is further complicated by the fact that these laws change from time to time. Keeping up to date, even assuming proficiency in the first place, can be difficult.

The law recognises several types of tenancy and has different names and rules for each. It is vital that you have the right kind of tenancy to suit your situation, and that you know which type of agreement you are entering into and all it entails.

The tenant has many rights in law under any type of tenancy, but it should not be forgotten that so too does the landlord, especially if he commits to a written agreement.

Being aware of Rent Officers and the Rent Assessment Committee

Rent Officers and Rent Assessment Committees are run on a regional basis throughout the UK with local authority support and can be called upon to arbitrate on the amount of rent paid by tenant to landlord. Rent can be set at an amount considered fair in terms of the local market rate.

The Law In Scotland

The law in Scotland regarding new tenancies in the private sector is governed by The Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. Two important types of tenancies are the assured tenancy and the short assured tenancy.

Assured tenancies

One of the main features of this type of agreement is that a referral by the tenant to have the rent set by the Rent Assessment Committee can be avoided. Provided the lease has been drawn up carefully, the landlord can be certain that the rent will remain as agreed.

At the end of the lease, however, it may be possible for the tenant to pursue continued occupancy of the property. Even though, the landlord can still be sure of being granted possession by the courts if any one of a number of mandatory grounds apply, one of which is that the property has been or is intended to be the landlord’s home.

Short assured tenancies

This is a distinct type of assured tenancy which gives the landlord extensive powers of repossession over his property provided the proper legal procedures have been followed in setting up and terminating the tenancy.

The tenant, however, has the right to have the rent appraised by the Rent Assessment Committee. It is only likely to change the amount when the rent is considerably out of line with the local market rent.

A short assured tenancy can only apply to lets of duration six months or longer.