Any point in giving a new lease?

tuisginideach

Gave new tenants a one year lease a year ago. They want to stay. We're happy for them to stay. They already have Part 4 rights anyway as they have been there for the past year. Is there any need/point/reason in asking them to sign a new lease?

Pkiernan

tuisginideach wrote: »

Gave new tenants a one year lease a year ago. They want to stay. We're happy for them to stay. They already have Part 4 rights anyway as they have been there for the past year. Is there any need/point/reason in asking them to sign a new lease?

No benefit to you in a new lease. Can only benefit the tenant.

tuisginideach

Thanks pkiernan. In what way would it benefit the tenant?

notharrypotter

The tenant as you point out is already covered by part 4.
This will give them superior rights.
There is no benefit to a tenant in signing a new lease.

Whereas you will be constrained by the lease.
By signing a new lease you are effectively tying your own hands.

tuisginideach

Thanks - pretty much the same question again / how would it constrain us?

Salary Negotiator

tuisginideach wrote: »

Thanks - pretty much the same question again / how would it constrain us?

If you need to sell you can’t. Need it for family, you have to wait.

All for no benefit as the tenant can still up and leave with little or no consequences.

tuisginideach

But that all relates to a Part 4 tenancy anyway. What I am trying to establish is why Boardsies are saying that a new lease would constrain us/ benefit the tenant more than if we did not produce a new lease?

notharrypotter

tuisginideach wrote: »

Thanks - pretty much the same question again / how would it constrain us?

Say for example the lease is valid for 12 months then you cannot do anything unty the 12 months elapse.

Salary Negotiator

tuisginideach wrote: »

But that all relates to a Part 4 tenancy anyway. What I am trying to establish is why Boardsies are saying that a new lease would constrain us/ benefit the tenant more than if we did not produce a new lease?

Because you can do those things with a part 4 but can’t with a fixed term lease.

Let’s flip the question though if you are a landlord, how does it benefit you to offer the tenant another 12 month lease?

dennyk

tuisginideach wrote: »

But that all relates to a Part 4 tenancy anyway. What I am trying to establish is why Boardsies are saying that a new lease would constrain us/ benefit the tenant more than if we did not produce a new lease?

If the tenant is under a fixed term lease then they can't be terminated during the term even for the allowable Part 4 reasons, so you'd be locked in until the end of the lease term no matter what. If you were forced to sell due to circumstances, you'd have to sell with a tenant in situ (good luck!). If you or a family member lost your current home and had nowhere else to live...well, you can't take over your tenant's place because they still have months left on their lease, so you're out of luck.

Now, in theory, a lease also locks the tenant into staying for the same length of time; if they're a good tenant, that might be a factor in your favour. However, the tenant has a very simple loophole to get out of the lease; all they have to do is find some random unvetted person who's willing to take over the lease and ask you to allow them to assign their tenancy to that person; if you refuse, then they can legally break the fixed term lease so long as they give you the statutory notice period (just as if they had no lease at all). And if they just up and left regardless and simply broke the lease, all you could do is withhold their deposit and maybe pursue them for additional costs and rent owed from the time they left until the time you found a new tenant (and you would have to start looking; you couldn't just sit on the empty property making no effort to mitigate damages and demand they pay you for the whole lease period). So really there's no benefit to you from entering into another fixed term lease.

tuisginideach

Thanks very much - now I see exactly what is involved. That’s perfect - my query is now solved. Many thanks again.