A message from the Northampton Student Landlords Network (NSLN) re: New Sample Contract -

Hi All,

After much research, consultation, legal advice and re-writing, we are finally able to provide a new standard tenancy agreement for landlords letting to students in Northampton.

There are a number of changes to the old contract, including its length, the way it can be accessed, and its contents,.

The new tenancy agreement comprises six pages. It can be accessed (as a read-only document) by downloading it from the DASH website  http://www.dashservices.org.uk/Resources/Landlord-Library - located in 'legal' tab.

Whilst many of the clauses have been subject to relatively minor changes, some changes are more significant, and the most significant difference of all from the old contract is that the new one is 'Joint & Several'. Basically, that means that all the tenants are all liable for all of the rent plus responsibility for every other aspect of the tenancy. No one tenant's financial or legal liability can be limited to his/her 'share'. In practice, this should not change the way in which the system of renting to students operated before. However, there would be implications for all if one tenant, for instance, decided to move out or defaulted on his/her rent.

You may wish to use individual tenancy agreements. However, if you want to use a joint agreement, we would recommend this new version only. DASH have very kindly paid a substantial fee for it to be checked by a specialist property lawyer and it has been approved by SU, NBC and UoN.

If you provide an all-inclusive package, the new tenancy agreement allows you to clarify what is included in the rent and enables you to set a monetary cap, to ensure 'fair usage' of utilities such as gas, electricity and water.

We would encourage all members of the NSLN to use this new tenancy agreement, to ensure consistency, clarity and best practice. Given that there are changes from the old version, it is your responsibility as a landlord to understand the nature and details of the new contract in order that you can explain it, and any specific implications, to prospective tenants.

We would also recommend that you insist that all tenants provide a suitable guarantor. There are plenty of examples of guarantor forms downloadable from various websites. Whilst the tenancy agreement itself is 'joint and several' as far as tenants are concerned, it is possible for a guarantor's liability for rent to be limited to that of one tenant only. However, it is critical to use the correct document. Members of the RLA can download both 'Unlimited' and 'Limited' Deeds of Guarantee, so it may be worth joining in order that you can facilitate this.

If you have any basic questions about the new tenancy agreement, please feel free to contact the NSLN Committee. However, please make your own enquiries in relation to any legal issues. 

The new tenancy agreement will also be fully explained at our next NSLN meeting 11/01/16.

Regards,

Richard Lee

NSLN Committee

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