BusinessAndLegal.ie » Property Law

Commercial Landlord And Tenant Disputes

terry — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:37:56 +0000

Landlord and tenant disputes are on the rise for obvious reasons with the downturn in the economy and landlords being faced with the choice of trying to recover outstanding rent or additionally trying to recover their premises and get the tenant out.

Generally the failure to pay rent by the tenant will be a breach of a covenant of the lease leading to a right accruing to the landlord for a straightforward breach of contract and the normal remedies available to the landlord when this occurs.

The legal proceedings that a landlord will take will depend on the amount of rent owed-if it is less than 6,348.69 euros it will be by way of Civil Summons in the District Court, if it is between that figure and less than 38,092.14 euros it will be by Civil Bill in the Circuit Court. Higher than that and you will find yourself the subject of High Court proceedings.

Recovery of Premises

Generally you will find that most commercial leases will have a covenant providing for the right to recover possession of the premises when there is a breach of a covenant of the lease.

Notice To Quit

If a lease has just expired, that is the time is up, the landlord needs to serve a Notice To Quit giving whatever period of notice is stipulated in the lease itself. After the service of the Notice To Quit the landord should mark any rent received as “mesne rates only” as not to do so could be seen as a waiving of the Notice by the landlord.

Forfeiture

Forfeiture procedure is appropriate where the landlord wants to get the tenant out before the term of the lease is up. He will want to do so if the rent is overdue and not being paid and the landlord thinks that he is better off trying to let the premises to someone else.To do this the landlord must be sure that the lease makes provision for forfeiture in the event of rent not being paid or whatever other breach of covenant the landlord is alleging. Most leases will contain such a covenant; if yours does not it will provide for forfeiture for breach of a condition of the lease.

In order to use the forfeiture procedure the landlord must first, by law, give the tenant the opportunity to remedy whatever breach has occurred.Firstly the landlord will need to serve a Notice of Forfeiture on the tenant which will set out the alleged breach and the time withing which it must be put right or that the landlord will re-enter the premises. This is called a Section 14 notice as the requirement arises from section 14 of the Conveyancing Act 1881.

If the remedy is not forthcoming and the breach is not sorted out then the landlord can re-enter the premises peaceably-it is important that to note that anything other than the minimum damage can lead to a criminal offence being caused by the landlord. If resistance is offered by the tenant then it would be very difficult for a landlord to enter peaceably and should withdraw.

Ejectment Civil Bill on Title

If the landlord can not take the premises peaceably he will need to go the Court route and it is by way of Ejectment Civil Bill on Title.Be warned that this is a slow process and the Courts have traditionally given a fair degree of latitude to tenants giving them more time to put things right.

Tenant Relief

Conveyancing Act 1881, section 14(2), provides some relief for the tenant provided that the landlord has not re-entered and the tenant has put matters right by paying the rent or whatever breach is alleged.The courts have traditionally been very fair with tenants in these matters and a tenant who has paid up, even late, will be in a strong position to get this statutory relief from the Court.

Judgment Mortgage-Registering A Judgment Mortgage

terry — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:13:06 +0000

Judgment mortgages are de rigeur in Ireland at the moment with considerable numbers of people finding themselves in difficult financial circumstances.A judgment mortgage will only arise after the obtaining of a judgment against a debtor on foot of a debt. The effect of then registering a judgment mortgage on a debtor’s property will be to give the registrar of the judgment mortgage priority over unsecured creditors of that debtor.

A judgment mortgage can be registered on either registered or unregistered property and it can be registered on the family home of a debtor, notwithstanding the fact that the spouse of the debtor may be a joint owner and owe nobody a cent. Normally it is necessary to obtain the consent of a spouse to allow a charge to be registered on the family home but this is not the case with a judgment mortgage.

Under the new Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 a judgment can be registered as a judgment mortgage by applying to the Property Registration Authority and filling out the necessary forms and providing the necessary paperwork or proofs.

Well Charging Order

The next step afforded to the judgment creditor is to apply to Court to get a Well Charging Order and Order for Sale. This is a request from the creditor to the court to recognise that their judgment mortgage is well charged on the property and to be granted an order for sale of the property.However the court, as always, has a wide discretion to grant any order it sees fit and it can make a range of other orders as well including adjustment orders between joint owning owners and any other order it sees fit.

Order For Sale Execution

If and when the judgment creditor obtains an Order for Sale from court, be that Circuit Court or High Court, he will then have to go to and apply to have the property sold through the Examiner’s office in the High Court or the Circuit Court and the Courts will arrange the sale of the property by public auction.

Stamp Duty Reliefs

terry — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:15:59 +0000

There are a number of stamp duty reliefs and exemptions and this post will look at the most common ones.
Transfers Between Spouses
Transfers between spouses are exempt from stamp duty.

Stamp Duty Reliefs

Consanguinity Relief
This relief applies to transfers between blood relations such as transfers from parent to child, grandchild, grandparent, brother, sister and some others. The relief provides for payment of 50% of the normal stamp duty that would have applied had there been no relationship.

Young Trained Farmer
There is no stamp duty on a transfer of qualifying land to young trained farmers.

Site Transfer From Parent To Child
When a parent transfers a site to a child for the purposes of building a private residence, and the value of the site is less than 500,000 euros, then there is no stamp duty.The size of the site can not be greater than 1 acre.

Farm Consolidation Relief
There is considerable relief in relation to the transfer of farms to encourage the consolidation of farms and the best place to investigate this scheme is the farm advisory body, Teagasc.

Charities And Sporting Bodies
Charities and sporting bodies both enjoy relief from paying stamp duty when acquiring property; both the charities and sporting bodies need to be approved and further enquiries should be made from the Stamp duty section of Revenue Commissioners for further information.

Gifts/Voluntary Transfers
Bear in mind that if the transfer is a voluntary transaction, that is a gift, the stamp duty will be calculated on the market value of the property at the date of transfer.

Stamp Duty | Stamp Duty Rates In Ireland

terry — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:02:46 +0000

Stamp duty is a tax on documents and most peoples experience with stamp duty will be in relation to property purchase which gives rise to the notion that stamp duty is applied to property. But it is actually a tax on the instrument which witnesses the property transaction and you will also see stamp duty applied to other instruments (legal documents) such as shares in companies.

The Stamp Duties Consolidation act 1999 governs this whole area and in that legislation there is a Schedule 1 which sets out the heads of charge for stamp duty which stipulates that the stamp duty on a conveyance or transfer of property will range from 0% to 9%. Each year the government in the Finance Act may change the rate of duty in various heads of charge but the duty will be calculated on an “ad valorem” (for value) rate.

Generally stamp duty will be payable if the document/instrument is executed in Ireland or if the transaction relates to property in the State. You used to have 30 days within which to stamp your document/instrument with the Revenue Commissioners; this is now 44 days and you can do the stamping online with the new online stamping service provided by the Revenue Commissioners called eStamping with the purchaser being the liable person for the duty. However if it is a voluntary transfer, such as a gift, both parties will be jointly and severally liable.

Residential Stamp Duty Rates

The rates of duty applicable for residential property (whether new or second-hand) are as follows:
First €125,000 Nil
Next €875,000 7%
Excess over €1,000,000 9%

* Transactions, where the consideration (or the aggregate consideration) does not exceed €127,000, are exempt from stamp duty.

Stamp Duty Rates On Non Residential Property

Up to €10,000 Exempt

€10,001 to €20,000 1%

€20,001 to €30,000 2%

€30,001 to €40,000 3%

€40,001 to €70,000 4%

€70,001 to €80,000 5%

Over €80,000 6%
These rates are applicable from February, 2010.

How much stamp duty you will have to pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a first time buyer, owner occupier or investor. First time buyers do not have to pay stamp duty on either new or second hand houses but there is a clawback of duty if the first time buyer or owner occupier lets all or part of the property other than under the Rent A Room scheme. This rent a room relief is not available to investors.

Stamp Duty On New Homes

Investors pay full duty on new homes; first time buyers are exempt. Owner occupiers may qualify for relief from stamp duty if there is a Floor Area Compliance Certificated for the property and whether the house is completed or if it is the sale of a site and contract to build a new house.

Conveyance Combined With Building Agreement

Owner occupiers will pay duty on either 25% of the total price excluding vat or the price of the site(excluding vat), whichever is the higher.
No stamp duty is payable on contents although they are taken into consideration when apportioning the total price paid.

Stamp Duty on Leases

Stamp duty is payable on leases and is divided between any premium payable which is calculated at normal stamp duty rates and duty payable on the rent. Generally if the lease is for less than 35 years and the rent is less than 30,000 euros there is no duty.
If the lease is greater than 100 years stamp duty is payable at 12% of the average annual rent.
If the lease is greater than 35 years and less than 100 years then duty is payable at 6% of the annual average rent.
If the lease is less than 35 years stamp duty is due at a rate of 1% of the average annual rent.
It is important to note that these rates apply on the creation of a new lease; if you are dealing with an existing lease and are taking an assignment of the lease then it is treated as a normal property transaction and the normal property transfer rates apply.

Capital Gains Tax On Property In Ireland

terry — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:01:36 +0000

Capital gains tax is a tax on the gains that arise on the disposal of an asset.This post will look at CGT on real property only (not shares). The charge to capital gains tax will arise when a number of conditions are fulfilled, namely,
1. there must be a chargeable gain which
2. accrues on the disposal of an asset.

The chargeable gain is calculated on the gain arising on disposal, not the sales price, so for example if you but property for 50,000 euro and sell for 100,000 euros then your gain will be clearly 50,000. Generally a company that has such a gain will not pay capital gains tax, it will pay corporation tax (unless the sale is of development land).

It is important to note that the charge to tax arises on a disposal, not necessarily a sale, so the gift of an asset gives rise to a chargeable situation if a gain arises and similarly a part disposal can give rise to a charge to tax as it too is a disposal.

The year of assessment is the year ended 31st December.

Calculating Your Capital Gain

In calculating your gain you are allowed to deduct the cost of the asset and any incidental costs of acquiring the asset, any enhancement expenditure (of a capital nature) spent on the asset and the costs of disposal such as legal fees and auctioneer’s fees.

Up to 31st December, 2002 you were allowed to use a “multiplier” to reflect the effects of inflation on your asset in calculating your gain. For example if you bought an asset for 50,000 in 1982-83 you used a multiplier of 2.253 which you applied to the cost of your asset giving you a base cost of 112,650 which would reduce your “gain” considerably.That is no longer the case since 1/1/2003. So any assets purchased after this date will not get you the benefit of the multiplier or indexation (as it was brought in to reflect the increase in value as a result of the rise in the consumer price index over time).

If you were unfortunate enough to incur a capital loss then you could set this off against any gain in a given year and you can also carry forward unused losses to later years to offset against later gains.

Everyone has an annual exemption of 1,270 which can be set off against a gain before computing your tax liability; this annual exemption can not be carried forward though.However a spouse can not give their unused annual exemption to their spouse. The current rate of capital gains tax is 25%.

Capital Gains Tax on Gifts

For the purposes of gifts or voluntary transfers the “cost” of the asset is the market value at the time of the gift and similarly any transfer between connected persons, such as husband and wife, are deemed to be transferred at market value.

Capital Gains Tax On Development Land

Development land is land the market value of which is greater than it’s current use value at date of disposal. The significance of land being classified as development land is that the multiplier for inflation can only be applied to the current use value at date of acquisition and can not be applied to any enhancement expenditure.

Unlike ordinary disposals, the development land gains of a company are chargeable to CGT and taxed at the normal rate of 25%.

Wasting Assets

There is no charge to CGT for the disposal of a wasting asset which is an asset the expected useful life of which is less than 50 years but an exception to this rule is a lease of property which is for more than 50 years. If the lease is for less than 50 years it is a wasting asset and is exempt and if a lease is greater than 50 years but has less than 50 years to run, then it becomes a wasting asset and is exempt.

Capital Gains Tax Reliefs

Principal Private Residence

The principal private residence relief provides relief from CGT for a private residence on ground up to 1 acre provided the house has been used by the seller as his principal residence throughout his period of ownership. If he/she has not occupied the house for all of that time then there may be a gain arising out of the period of time during which he did not occupy the house.

Dependent Relative

There is also relief where you supply a house rent free to a dependent relative.

Transfer Of Site To A Child

Relief is also available where you can transfer a site of up to one acre to a child up to a value of 500,000 euros from parent to child. The child must build a house on the site and live in it as his/her principal private residence.

Letting Agreement Template Ireland

terry — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:23:51 +0000

Letting agreement template

Landlord And Tenant

terry — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:21:47 +0000

Landlord and tenant

CyberUse Quality Paid Directory

Termination and Ending leases

terry — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:47:18 +0000

Leases may be terminated in many ways and the first thing you must look at is….whether the lease is covered by the Residential tenancies act 2004.

The vast majority of residential leases and tenancies are now governed by this legislation and the landlord and tenant’s rights and obligations in a residential letting are set out here in landlord/tenant

What follows mainly concerns commercial leases.

The most common ways to terminate or end a lease are

1) Notice to quit

2) Forfeiture

Since the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 lays down the procedure for the vast majority of residential tenancies Notice to Quit and Forfeiture now only apply to commercial tenancies.

You only use a Notice to Quit procedure where the tenant remains in possession after the expiry of the agreed term and continues to pay rent. This tenant is said to be overholding.

Where the landlord wishes to end the tenancy prior to the end of the agreed term, the appropriate procedure is Forfeiture.

Notice to Quit

Notice to quit is the most common procedure to recover the premises where the tenant is overholding.

Anybody who has received prior express authorisation may serve the notice to quit.

Where the landlord is not serving the notice to quit himself it is prudent to arrange prior written authority to be given to the server. This authority can not be given retrospectively.

There is no set form for the notice to quit but it must contain a clear and unambiguous intention to end the tenancy.

A description of the premises must be given and it must be addressed to ‘the tenant and all other persons in occupation’.

It need not be signed but it is prudent to do so.

Length of Notice

Firstly check the written agreement to see is there an agreed procedure. If not the statutory minimum is 4 weeks and the notice must end on a gale day(this is the point when one period ends and another begins)

The crucial question is how is the rent reserved in the lease(this is not the same as how is the rent paid)

A monthly tenancy requires one month’s notice expiring on a gale day.

A quarterly tenancy requires 3 months notice and this should expire on a gale day.

A tenancy from year to year requires 183 days notice expiring on the anniversary of the tenancy.

Personal service is best and in the case of a limited company on the registered office of the company.

Waiver of notice

You will be deemed to have waived the notice to quit if you
Serve another notice
Demand the rent
Accept the rent which falls due after the end of the notice period

Landlords are advised therefore not to accept rent after the end of the notice to quit has expired.

Care should be taken to check the lease to see if any provision has been made for a specific method of terminating the tenancy.

Forfeiture

This is only appropriate where the term of the lease is still running. But a landlord has no right to terminate a lease prematurely unless the tenant has been in breach of one or more of it’s terms.

A landlord also loses the right to forfeiture if he does not follow certain statutory procedures which give the tenant a reasonable opportunity to remedy any breach.

It is extremely difficult in practice to forfeit a lease, especially if the parties are in court for the first time.

Grounds for forfeiture

The 3 main grounds for forfeiture are………

1) Disclaimer by the tenant of the landlord’s title

2) Re-entry of ejectment where there has been a breach of a condition in the lease

3) Re-entry of ejectment where there has been a breach of a covenant which provides for re-entry for that breach

Breach of condition of lease

Breach of a condition of a lease gives the landlord an inherent right to re-enter. But the landlord must be careful to distinguish between a condition and a covenant.

Breach of covenant in a lease

A breach of covenant in a lease will only give rise to a right to re-enter if the covenant broken has a proviso for re-entry.

Before forfeiture can take place a ‘section 14’ notice must be served unless forfeiture is occurring for non payment of rent. In this case there is no need for a ‘section 14’ notice.

This notice calls upon the tenant to remedy the breach within a reasonable time.

If the notice is served and the time specified in the notice has elapsed without the remedy of the breach, a demand is again made for possession and the landlord may re-enter if it can be done without the use of force. There is a statutory prohibition on the use of force.

Ejectment civil bill on title

If the landlord can not re-enter peacably the landlord’s remedy is to issue an ejectment civil bill and seek an order for possession in court.

Relief against forfeiture

There are 2 reliefs for the tenant t prevent forfeiture of the lease-statutory and equitable.

Statutory

Section 14(2) Conveyancing Act 1881 allows the tenant to apply to court for relief-it is then at the discretion of the court and there are no fixed rules for the court in exercising its discretion.

A sub-lessee will get statutory relief and his sub-lease will continue as if the superior landlord was the immediate lessor.

The Landlord and Tenant(Ground Rents) Act 1978 provides that forfeiture can not occur by reason of failure to pay ground rent in the case of a house where the tenant is entitled to buy out the freehold.

In general there is no statutory relief where the landlord forfeits the lease for non-payment of rent.

Equitable

Courts may use its equitable discretion to grant relief to the tenant, even for non-payment of rent, if it would appear to be just to do so.

Courts lean against forfeiture for non payment of rent and tend to give tenant’s plenty of opportunity to pay up. But it will look at the conduct of the parties prior to going to court.

Effluxion of time

Where the term of a lease is up there is no need to serve a notice. A letter prior prior to the end of term pointing up the end of the term and demanding possession will suffice.

Court Order

The court has jurisdiction under certain legislation to terminate a tenancy.

Exercise of an option (break clauses) in a lease
Commercial leases often have break clauses entitling either party to terminate prematurely.

Legal proceedings

It may still prove necessary to go to court,even after ending the lease by one of the methods outlined above.

Ejectment Civil Bill on Title Based on Forfeiture

The landlord’s claim is based on the fact that the tenancy has ended by forfeiture and the tenant has no right to retain possession. This is a very common procedure, especially where non-payment of rent has occurred.

The landlord may need to go to court a number of times to establish a poor track record of the tenant as the court is very reluctant to grant possession first time for non payment of rent.

Ejectment for non payment of rent

This is based on Deasy’s Act,1860. The huge disadavantage is that the landlord must wait until one years rent is due-not very popular method for this reason.

Ejectment Civil Bill for overholding

This is used following service of a notice to quit or where the original lease has ended and the tenant remains in possession.

From the tenant’s perspective under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1980 he must now serve notice to seek relief, that is to seek a renewal of the lease) within a certain period following service of the notice to quit.

Ground Rents

terry — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:19:30 +0000

Buying out the ground rent on a leasehold property is an option for many people….either in commercial or residential premises.

What is ground rent?

Ground rent is rent paid on leases which are at least 99 years old.

Features of ground rent are

* Very low rent (ie not market rent)
* No rent reviews

They can apply to both residential and commercial leases.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1967 gave the tenant the right to buy out the freehold.

I deal elsewhere on this site Right To a New Lease with the right to a new lease and in addition to the right to a new lease the tenant may have the right to buy the freehold.

The differences are that

1. the right to buy the freehold only applies to permanent buildings on the land (the right to a new lease applies to any building, not necessarily of a permanent nature)
2. there is an occupancy requirement re the new lease procedure; there is no occupancy requirement to buy out the freehold

Landlord and Tenant (ground rents ) act, 1978

This act changed the test to establish whether the tenant has the right to buy out the freehold. Essentially it requires that in order to have the right to buy out the ground rent and acquire the freehold then the tenant must comply with all of section 9 of the act and one of the conditions of section 10.

I do not propose to spell these conditions here but they can be accessed at www.irishstatutebook.ie in the act itself.

Yearly tenants

If the tenant is a yearly tenant then section 15 of the act sets out the conditions required to obtain the entitlement to buy the freehold.

Restrictions

Section 16 of the act sets out the restrictions to the entitlement to buy out the ground rent.

Procedure

There are 2 methods to buy out the ground rent and purchase the freehold

1. For a business premises-you must use the procedure under the 1967 act
2. For a residential premises you can use either the 1967 act or the 1978 act

Both of these acts can be viewed on www.irishstatutebook.ie
Essentially there are various forms and notices to be served on the landlord and these forms can be accessed on www.landregistry.ie

If the lessor can not be found then you can make application to the County Registrar for the conveyance to be executed. Consult your solicitor to follow this procedure.

The 1978 act procedure, which applies only to residential premises, is called the Vesting Certificate procedure and these certificates are issued by Land Registry, even where the property is unregistered.

Price to buy out the ground rent and acquire the freehold

The price of the freehold is provided for in Landlord and Tenant act 1984 and makes provision for the use of an arbitrator to determine the price. The arbitrator will either be the County Registrar (1967 act) or the Registrar of titles in Land Registry (1978 act).

Generally the value will be approximately one eighth of the market price where the lease has expired.

Where the lease has not expired then Land Registry can advise as to what multiplier they are currently using. It will be approximately 8/10 times the annual rent for residential premises and 18/20 times the annual rent for commercial.

However if you find yourself in this situation it is prudent to engage the services of a professional valuer and your solicitor.

If you are paying ground rent and qualify to buy out the ground rent and acquire the freehold interest, then you would be well advised to do so.

Residential Letting Agreements-Landlord’s Obligations

terry — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:54:55 +0000

The obligations of a landlord in a residential letting or tenancy
A landlord’s obligations in a residential tenancy and letting can be very onerous. A good working knowledge of your rights and obligations can be very important.

The governing legislation is the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

The residential tenancies act 2004

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 applies to every dwelling which is the subject of a tenancy.

There are some limited exceptions where the residential tenancies act will not apply but this report is intended for the vast majority of residential lettings which have arisen over the last 10 years in Ireland.

Part 4 Tenancy

One of the most important effects of the residential tenancies act is that where a person has been in occupation, under a tenancy, for a continuous period of 6 months then, provided no notice of termination has been served, then the tenancy will continue for 4 years.

This right of the tenant is of huge significance for many landlords and this tenancy is then called a Part 4 tenancy.

Landlord and Tenant’s obligations

All of these obligations are set out in the act and are incorporated in the standard letting agreement which is used by most solicitors in Ireland.

You can see this agreement at www.dsba.ie (Dublin Solicitors Bar Association) so if you are unsure as to your obligations as a landlord or tenant have a look there first or consult your existing agreement if you are currently a landlord/tenant.

Rent/Rent review

Rent may not be set at an amount greater than the market rent for the tenancy in question and any disputes can be referred to the Tenancy Tribunal of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (www.prtb.ie)

Termination of Residential Tenancies

Tenants of fixed term tenancies ie the standard 12 month letting agreement common in Ireland have security of tenure from the word go as a result of their 12 month agreement.

Termination of a residential letting by the Landlord

A landlord can terminate a Part 4 tenancy prematurely on one of 6 grounds laid down by the legislation and only then when he serves a notice of termination stating the ground and has served the notice in accordance with the notice periods laid down by the act.

The 6 grounds for premature termination of a Part 4 tenancy by the landlord are

1.The tenant has failed to comply with their obligations. However the landlord has to notify them of their failure and give them a reasonable time to remedy the failure.
2. The property is no longer suitable for the tenant.
3. The landlord intends entering into an agreement within 3 months to sell the property.
4.The landlord requires the property for his own use or for a family member (but he must specify who he needs it for and for how long)
5. The landlord intends refurbishing or renovating the property.
6. The landlord intends changing the use of the property to some other use.

If the landlord uses one of these grounds dishonestly then the tenant can make a complaint to PRTB and they can award compensation to the tenant.
PRTB awarded over €5,000 to a tenant who had been illegally evicted in Galway in 2006.

Termination of a residential letting by the tenant

The tenant may terminate by giving a notice of termination to the landlord with the required notice period.

Unlike the landlord the tenant can bring a Part 4 tenancy to an end without giving a reason.
The first 6 months
A landlord can terminate a tenancy, provided it is not a fixed term tenancy, within the first 6 months without giving a reason.

However he must give the statutory notice period.

12 month fixed term tenancy

The right to terminate prematurely in this instance is limited to situations where either party is in breach of the agreement or in breach of their statutory obligations.

Landlords need to be careful here as the fixed term tenancy gives more protection to the tenant than they would have if they only had a Part 4 tenancy as this can be terminated in the first 6 months without giving a reason.

Further Part 4 tenancies

Where a tenancy continues to the end of the 4 years of the part 4 tenancy and neither party serves notice of termination then a further Part 4 tenancy will arise and will last for 4 more years.

Multiple Occupants
Security of tenure applies to any premises occupied by multiple tenants from the earliest date at which any of them has 6 months occupation clocked up.

Contracting out

You can not contract out of Part 4 of the act which means no matter what you want to agree with the tenant he has his statutory entitlement to a Part 4 tenancy.

Notices

Notice must be served to terminate in all cases. The periods are different for tenants and landlords.

Termination notice
This must

Be written
Signed by the landlord/tenant
Specify the date of service
If the tenancy is for more than 6 months state the reason
The date of termination
Notice Periods
Where the landlord wants to terminate where the tenant is in breach the period depends on the default-anti social behaviour requires only 7 days notice.

For any other reason the period is 28 days and if it is non payment of rent then the landlord must first notify the tenant in writing that the rent is overdue. He must wait 14 days and then serve the notice of termination of 28 days.

Termination by landlord

Length of tenancy Notice period

Less than 6 months 28 days

>6 months and <12 months 35 days Between 1 and 2 years 42 days Termination by tenant Length of tenancy Notice period Less than 6 months 28 days >6 months and <12 months 35 days

Between 1 and 2 years 42 days

Time limit for disputing a notice of termination

Must be referred to PRTB within 28 days of receipt of the notice.
Residential Letting Agreement Template