When you are about to rent a property, whether it is an apartment, a house, a garage, a room, or a shared house, you will have to sign a tenancy agreement. If you are an owner of the soon-to-be rented property, you need to write a tenancy agreement for you and your future tenant. A tenancy agreement is an agreement between two parties, which are the landlord and the tenant, that states clearly the obligations and responsibilities of both parties in the course of the rental. This is to avoid any conflict in the future as well as to avoid irresponsible property usage by the tenant. There are other names for a tenancy agreement; residential tenancy agreement, short assured tenancy, or assured short old tenancy agreement.

Whether you are a landlord, or a tenant, you need to know the things that comprises a tenancy agreement. Basically, a tenancy agreement should state clearly the name of the landlord and the tenant. It should also state clearly the type of property that is rented, and also the exact location of the property (the address). And then there should be clear information on the amount of rent that the tenant needs to pay. The last thing that a tenancy agreement needs to contain is the duration of the lease. Usually a tenancy agreement lasts for a year, however, make sure that the lease period is true to both parties.

Not only that a tenancy agreement needs to contain those basic information above, it needs to have some other things. There should be information on what kind of tenancy it is, whether it is an assured of short assured tenancy. Other than that, there should be information on the services that the rent covers (or does not cover), such as gas, electricity, and tax. Further information on payment should also be included, such as the exact date of payment, how the payment is made (by cash, or debit, or cheque) and to whom the payment is given to. There should also be information whether there are any furniture included in the rented property and under whose responsibilities it is to repair any damage. Not only that you need to know about all the properties that are included in the lease, there should also be information on how many people can stay inside the house.

This template below is one sample of this kind of tenancy agreement. Feel free to download and understand the template. Make sure you consult your legal people to create an agreement that will cover all of your interests.

  Tenancy Contract Template (30.0 KiB, 1,425 hits)