Flats

By Tony Black

Tenants Rights

A Flat may be obtained privately, through advertisements in the newspaper, or through a land agent. If it is obtained through a land agent then the tenant will be required to pay the land agent's fee, which will be the equivalent of one week's rent.

Having selected the fiat the next question to decide is whether to enter into a formal written lease or be satisfied with an oral agreement. The terms agreed upon in an oral agreement are just as binding as the terms in a lease, and may be enforced in court.

The main difference between a lease and an oral agreement is that a lease generally defines, at length, the relationship between the landlord and tenant, while an oral agreement is often no more than an agreement to pay rent in advance and at a certain interval. A lease is almost invariably given for a set length of time, generally six months or one year, and will usually contain a provision allowing for renewal of the lease at the end of that term.

This means that the person taking a written lease is stuck with the place until the lease expires. Furthermore, the person who signs the lease is responsible for the lease, so if the other occupants oí the flat walk out he is left with a big flat and the rent to pay. However, this situation should not arise among friends. On the other hand, the landlord is stuck with you for the full term of the lease, so at least you have a guaranteed roof over your head.

Under an oral agreement, the flat is usually taken from week to week, fortnight to fortnight, or month to month, although it may be for any interval agreed upon. If nothing is said about the term of tenancy, then it is considered to be from month to month, with the rent payable monthly. Unlike a lease, if you want to leave, or conversely, if your landlord wants to get rid of you. either party may terminate the tenancy by giving the appropriate amount of notice: for example, in the case of a monthly tenancy. this will be one month's notice. Apart from any express provision between landlord and tenant, defining the terms on which either party may determine the tenancy, it is necessary to give a notice which will expire on the day of the week corresponding to that on which the tenancy commenced.

Thus, if a weekly tenancy commenced on a Wednesday, a week's notice expiring on a Wednesday is necessary to terminate the tenancy. These provisions as to notice may, of course, be varied or even dispensed with by express agreement.

A lease should be read carefully and understood before it is signed. One of the most important provisions to note is the one concerning the obligation to repair. The possible variations likely to arise in a covenant to repair are so numerous that an attempt to cover them in this article would be more confusing than helpful. If there is anything in the lease that you are not clear on ask the solicitor who prepared the lease to explain the provision to you. (The lease will usually be signed in the presence of the solicitor who prepared it.) Make sure that you know who is reponsible for the repair of the furniture, hot-water cylinders and stoves.

At this stage it is perhaps as well to note that in the case of a lease the tenant is usually required to pay the solicitor's costs and stamp-duty. This will rarely exceed five guineas.

The liability of a weekly tenant to repair (and the term here includes fortnightly and monthly tenancies) has been well summed up by Lord Denning:

"Apart from express contract, a weekly tenant owes no duty to the landlord to keep the premises in repair. The only duty of the tenant is to use the premises in a husband-like manner, or what is the same thing, a tenant-like manner. He must, if he is going away for the winter, turn off the water and empty the boiler: he must clean the chimneys when necessary, and also the windows: he must mend the electric light when it fuses; he must unstop the sink when it is blocked by his waste. In short, he must do the jobs about the place which a reasonable tenant would do. In addition, he must not, of course, damage the house wilfully or negligently; and he must see that his family and guests do not damage it—if they do, he must repair it."

Under a lease the rent is fixed and unless there is a special provision to the contrary, it cannot be varied during the term of the lease unless both parties agree. Under a weekly tenancy, however, the position may be "pay up or here's your notice." It is essential to keep a record of rent payments, either in the form of receipts from the landlord or in the form of a rent book (obtainable at any stationers)—each payment should be signed for by the landlord. By doing this, any possible disagreement about payment of rent may be easily settled.

The question of eviction seldom arises in connection with a weekly tenancy as the tenancy may be ended easily by the landlord's giving notice to quit. With a lease, however, the grounds upon which a landlord may evict a tenant are set out, and will usually include a power to evict when the rent is in arrears for a specified time. An unscrupulous landlord may well take advantage of a tenant's ignorance of the law and just tell him to get out.

Consequently, it is well worth remembering that a landlord can not enforce his right to evict unless he serves on the tenant a notice specifying the particular breach complained of. and requiring the tenant to remedy the breach. Thus until the above requirements are satisfied, there is nothing the landlord can do about removing you.

A point of little importance to the student, but one worth knowing nonetheless, is the power of the landlord to seize and sell a tenant's goods to cover arrears in rent. Suffice to say. this power cannot be exercised without a court order, and the tenant given ample notice of the landlord's intention, and an opportunity to state his case in court. Without a court order, the landlord can not touch the tenant's goods.