Helping landlords and tenants understand their rights

6th January 2018

Fariz Uvais is a Consultant Solicitor at Fahri LLP based in Whetstone, North London. Write in and ask your legal questions. Fariz will try and answer your questions in Palmers Green LIFE each month. Send your questions to Fahri LLP, 1268a High Road Whetstone, London N20 9HH or by email to fariz@fahrillp.com. Tel: 0203 813 8457

I am a private landlord and one of my flats has had the same tenant for over four years. I provide a new Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement every year but will there be a time when they will acquire additional rights to my property due to the length of occupancy please?

With the introduction of the Housing Act 1996 (which came into effect in early 1997) any residential tenancy created after the effective date was by default deemed to be an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. So since early 1997 even if a tenant has no written tenancy agreement, a tenant will still automatically be presumed to hold an Assured Tenancy Agreement. Since this is a rebuttable presumption if the tenant has been given a different type of tenancy, he or she will be able to establish the true nature of the tenancy by referring to a written contract with the landlord. In your case, since you began your tenancy after 1997 and in any event under a written Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, the tenant will not acquire any additional rights regardless of the length of time they remain in occupation of the flat. Even if you did not renew the written agreement every year, on the expiry of the last written agreement, the tenancy would be deemed to be Statutory Periodic Tenancy. The tenancy will continue on the same basis as the last written agreement, with all the same clauses and conditions being operative. The period of the tenancy will depend upon the rent payment clause in the written agreement. Therefore, if the rent was paid monthly under the original fixed term, this will become a monthly periodic tenancy or a weekly periodic tenancy if the 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article should not be construed as legal advice and the information is offered for information purposes only. You should always seek advice from an appropriately qualified solicitor on any specific legal enquiry.