• Home
  • About
  • Clinic
  • Training
  • Eco Landlords
  • Landlord Law

The Landlord Law Blog

From landlord and tenant lawyer Tessa Shepperson

  • Home
  • Posts
  • News & comment
  • Cases
  • Tenants
    • Penalties for breaching tenancy rules
    • 15 Places for tenant help
  • Clinic
  • Podcasts
    • Interview
    • Surgery
  • Series
    • Analysis
    • should law and justice be free
    • HMO Basics
    • Tenancy Agreements 33 days
    • Airbnb
    • Grounds for Eviction
    • The Deregulation Act Explained
    • Tips

Is a guarantor bound by a new tenancy at an increased rent?

June 19, 2014 by Tessa J Shepperson

FlatsHere is a question to the blog clinic from Victoria who is a tenant

I have rented a property on an agreed short-hold tenancy for 12 months with my mother as guarantor.

At the end of the twelve months the landlord offered me another 12 months on an agreed short-hold tenancy at a increased rent. I wrote back and agreed and requested they send me the agreement.

I have not signed the agreement and I have written to give one months notice to quit. My landlord says that I am bound into the new agreement even though I have not signed it and that my mother is also still bound as guarantor.

Am I still liable? Is my mother still liable as guarantor?

Answer:

1. Are you liable as tenant?

There are arguments both ways and if it was something being decided by a court it would probably depend on the precise wording you used in your letter.

Your landlord will probably say that your letter would constitute agreement to the new tenancy.  However I think it is more likely that a court would treat this as part of ongoing negotiations for a new tenancy as you asked for the  tenancy agreement.

So as you did not sign the tenancy agreement and gave notice instead, your landlord is going to find it hard to make out a case for your being bound for a further fixed term.

2. Is your Mother liable as guarantor?

This is a lot easier to answer.  Your Mother cannot be liable as guarantor (assuming she has not signed any further documentation) as the new tenancy was to be at a higher rent.

There is a general rule which says that a change in the terms of a tenancy will automatically end a guarantee and a guarantor’s liability unless they sign a new guarantee form.

Because the the tenancy with the changed term is not what they agreed to as guarantor in their guarantee deed.

So if your Mother signed up as guarantor for your tenancy at a rent of £X her liability will automatically end if the rent goes up to £Y.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Readers problems Tagged With: guarantees, rent

Scroll down for the comments

Landlord Law for Landlords

Are you a landlord, unsure how to manage your properties in these uncertain times?  My Landlord Law service can help you in this crisis by providing online help and guidance and giving you one to one advice in the members' forum area.

>> Find out more about Landlord Law.


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.

« The Landlord Law Blog Monster List of 42 Top Tips for Landlords
HMO Legal Basics – What is an HMO : 3 »

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

Landlord Law Virtual Conference 2021

Make sure you and your staff are fully up to date with the law – remember the only 100% protection against penalties and fines is 100% compliance!

Our virtual Conference has expert legal speakers and the recordings will be available for 3 months after the event.

Click here to find out more

Subscribe to the Landlord Law Blog by email

Never miss another post!

Choose whether you want to get
>> daily updates or just the
>> weekly roundups

You will also get a FREE Ebook!

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

Coronavirus

Landlords and the Coronavirus Emergency – keeping records

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
Tenant Law
Eco Landlords
Your Law Store

Legal

Landlord Law Blog is © 2006 – 2020 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.

© 2006–2021 Tessa Shepperson | Rainmaker Platform | Contact Page | 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