Short term lets an option?

Short term lets an option?

10:13 AM, 30th January 2019, About 5 years ago 4

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Am I able to offer short term lets to allow me more flexibility and the ability to offer those who may have not got the best of credit histories or are agency workers etc a chance to rent a room in an HMO?

As far as I am aware the standard contract offered is any period but it is legally 6 months before the landlord can obtain legal possession if they decided to stay.

Can a holiday or some other similar agreement be used? This would be a very good benefit for those in need of accommodation!

Advice please from all gratefully received.

Simon


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Comments

Neil Patterson

10:15 AM, 30th January 2019, About 5 years ago

Sounds like Airbnb to me ?

Robert M

23:42 PM, 30th January 2019, About 5 years ago

You can do holiday lets, e.g. Airb&b or similar, but these are only for people who already have a home elsewhere, otherwise you run the risk of accidentally creating a tenancy, but without a written tenancy agreement or meeting all the legal requirements that would enable you to evict the person, (even after 6 months). So if doing this "holiday let" accommodation, be very careful and make sure that you do not put yourself at risk of creating a tenancy. It would not be suitable for people "in need of accommodation", i.e. a place to live.

In relation to letting on a short term agreement, when the property is going to be the person's home / residence (place where they actually live), then the only alternative option as far as I know would be creating a "licence", but this is not as easy as issuing a document called a licence agreement, as a court would most likely deem it to be a sham tenancy, i.e. it does not matter what you call it, it is in law still a tenancy. The main basis for this can be found in the caselaw of "Street v Mountford".

It is possible to overcome the legal presumption of a tenancy, but it is not simple, it is a very grey legal area, and it requires additional cost and effort. I provide supported hostel accommodation for homeless people, and we issue licence agreements, not tenancies, but this is very specific to the way that the hostels are set up and operated, and it may be difficult for most landlords to replicate this with standard housing stock and letting methods.

Sam

9:43 AM, 31st January 2019, About 5 years ago

Thank you for all the comments so far.It just seem to me that the more flexibility that we as landlords can have without getting locked into lengthy contracts with people who may not quite fulfil the normal referencing criteria the more homes/rooms we can offer.
I have never received one penny of a client's housing benefit when they have lost their job etc,so, whilst willing to help I do need to pay my bills and earn a living from this investment, which is quite heavily geared on borrowing!

Rob Crawford

14:49 PM, 1st February 2019, About 5 years ago

Don't underestimate the additional work (cost) required for a holiday/B&B let!

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