• Home
  • About
  • Clinic
  • Training
  • Tenants
  • Landlord Law

The Landlord Law Blog

From landlord and tenant lawyer Tessa Shepperson

  • Home
  • Posts
  • News & comment
  • Cases
  • Tenants
    • The Renters Guide Website
    • 15 Places for tenant help
  • Clinic
  • Series
    • Analysis
    • should law and justice be free
    • HMO Basics
    • Tenancy Agreements 33 days
    • Airbnb
    • Grounds for Eviction
    • Tips

Five fixed term tenancy periods and what they mean

February 23, 2012 by Tessa J Shepperson

title deedsEvery tenancy has a term, a period of time that it is to last for. These often have a profound effect on the tenancy and how it works. In this article I am going to look at five different terms and see what effect they have.

1. One month

Not many tenancies in the private sector will have a fixed term of one month in their tenancy agreements. However there are very many tenancies which have a one month term, where the tenancy rolls on from month to month – this is known as periodic tenancy.

This is the sort of tenancy you will get if a tenant just goes into a property on a handshake and starts payment rent on a monthly basis. It is also what will happen if a tenant stays on at the end of the fixed term without a new tenancy agreement being signed.

There is nothing wrong or illegal with either of these situations (although it is unwise to allow a tenancy to start with no tenancy agreement being signed). Many tenancies run on for years on a monthly basis.

2. Six months

This is probably the most common fixed term period in private rented sector tenancies. It is a good period to give a new tenant. It gives them a certain amount of security but if they prove to be unsatisfactory, there is not a massive amount of time to wait before you can end it.

3. One year

This is the other main standard tenancy period in the private rented sector. It gives both landlord and tenant a degree of security.

However it is quite a long period of time to commit yourself and so many of these tenancies will include a break clause, to allow either party upon giving a certain amount of written notice (generally one or two months) to end the tenancy early.

Note that if landlords do this, they will also need to serve a section 21 notice if it is going to be necessary for them to get a court order for possession.

4. Over three years

Tenancy agreements are technically a document of title for the transfer of land, and normally these need to be created by deed.

However the Law of Property Act 1925 makes an exception for tenancies created for a fixed term not exceeding three years where the tenant goes into occupation immediately and pays a market rent.

This is why you have a valid binding tenancy if someone just goes in on a handshake and starts paying rent.

However if you want to create a proper binding tenancy for over three years, this has to be done by deed. Which means essentially that the document must say its a deed and the signatures must be witnessed.

5. Seven years

Big changes occur when a tenancy has a fixed term of seven years or more. The first is that that the landlords repairing coveants in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 will no longer apply. So the tenant will be responsible for these repairs unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise.

The second changes it that this type of tenancy needs to be registered with the Land Registry.

In reality most short lets have fixed terms of six or twelve months, or are rolling periodic tenancies. Leases with longer fixed terms all tend to be in the order of ninety years and are governed by different legislation than their shorter cousins.

If you looking to let a property and need a tenancy agreement >> click here.  Note that if you are not sure which tenancy agreement you require, my (free) Which Tenancy Agreement guide can help.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Tips and How to Tagged With: five things you didn't know, Fixed Term, tenancy agreements

Scroll down for the comments

IMPORTANT: Please check the date of the post above - remember, if it is an old post, the law may have changed since it was written.

You should always get independent legal advice before taking any action.

Notes on comments:

For personal landlord and tenant related problems, please use our >> Blog Clinic.
Note that we do not publish all comments, please >> click here to read our terms of use and comments policy. Comments close after three months.

Keep up with the news on Landlord Law blog!

To get posts sent direct to your email in box click here

About Tessa J Shepperson

Tessa is a specialist landlord & tenant lawyer and the creator of this site! She is a director of Landlord Law Services which runs Landlord Law and Easy Law Training.

« Asking agents for the landlords address
Agent seeking commission from tenants leaving early »

“Interesting posts on residential landlord & tenant law and practice - in England & Wales UK”

Subscribe to the Landlord Law Blog by email

Never miss another post!

Sign up to our
>> daily updates

If you are new to the blog >> click here

Get Your Free Ebook:

Click to get your Free Ebook

>> Click Here for Your Free Copy

Featured Post

Tessa Shepperson

Why you need and how to get proper legal advice on landlord and tenant issues

Tessa’s Podcast

The Landlord and Lawyer Podcast

Worried about Insurance?

Landlord Law Insurance Mini-Course

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to provide information, comment and discussion.

Although Tessa, or guest bloggers, may from time to time, give helpful comments to readers' questions, these can only be based on the information given by the reader in his or her comment, which may not contain all material facts.

Any comments or suggestions provided by Tessa or any guest bloggers should not, therefore be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer regarding any actual legal issue or dispute.

Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice or perceived as creating a lawyer-client relationship (apart from the Fast Track block clinic service - so far as the questioners only are concerned).

Please also note that any opinion expressed by a guest blogger is his or hers alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tessa Shepperson, or the other writers on this blog.

Cookies

You can find out more about our use of 'cookies' on this website here.

Associated sites

Landlord Law Services
The Renters Guide
Eco Landlords
Your Law Store

Legal

Landlord Law Blog is © 2006 – 2021 Tessa Shepperson.

Note that Tessa is an introducer for Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers and will get a commission from sales made via links on this website.

© 2006–2022 Tessa Shepperson | Rainmaker Platform | Contact Page | Privacy | Log in

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept