The Letting Centre publishes a range of different tenancy agreements:

• Assured Shorthold Agreement (AST) –agreement used for most standard lettings
• General Tenancy Agreement – generally used where AST does not apply
• Company Letting Agreement – used when tenant is a company

For information on which agreement to use – click here

Letting Centre Agreements

The Letting Centre provides tenancy agreements in two different formats:

• Pre-printed agreements (mainly for use by private landlords)
• Professional Series agreements (for use by agents and commercial landlords)

Pre-printed Agreements

Pre-printed agreements provide a simple and standard form of agreement between landlord and tenant and are ideal for use by private landlords. The agreements include spaces beside the relevant fields so that the standard information (names of landlord, tenant etc.) can be completed

Two copies of the agreement should be purchased; the first copy (original) for the tenant to keep, and the other copy (counterpart) is retained by the landlord.

RA02: Assured Shorthold Agreement            £2.50 each

RA02: Assured Shorthold Agreement Guidance notes available on-line

A01: General Tenancy Agreement                 £2.50 each

 
Ordering: These forms are available from Heffers Bookshop

NB. Pre-printed forms are only available directly from the Letting Centre in bulk (minimum order: 50 units) – See Pre-Printed Forms – Bulk Ordering.

Heffers contact information:

Heffers Bookshop
20 Trinity Street
CAMBRIDGE
CB2 1TY
(01223) 568568

Heffers has a credit card facility which allows you to order across the phone.

Please note that Heffers are not trained to give legal advice.  For legal information about the agreements, please refer to RA02 Guidance Notes (see above).

Professional Series Agreements

Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (Short Version)

- This version of the assured shorthold tenancy agreement offers a secure form of letting agreement between landlord and tenant. Because of the high degree of security offered to landlords by assured shorthold tenancies, this concise form of agreement is often preferred by private landlords and tenants who find it easier to read and understand. This version is also particularly suitable for 'let only' situations.

Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (Long Version)

- This agreement has been developed in response to a professional market encompassing letting agents, solicitors and other professionals engaged in the property management who seek a more comprehensive format. The 'Agent' is cited as a party to the agreement and is given explicit authority to act on behalf of the landlord. The agreement can be readily adapted for use as an assured tenancy agreement and for use in situations where the tenancy cannot be assured (e.g. resident landlord). Information contained within the drafting and guidance notes explains how the agreement can be suitably modified.

Company Letting Agreement- A Company letting cannot be an assured tenancy under the Housing Act 1988 . Our company letting agreement is specially tailored for lettings where the company is the tenant, and employees occupy as licensees.

Drafting your Agreement

Professional Series Agreements can be individually drafted and tailored to your requirements and are more suitable for agency use. Accordingly, they provide additional security features for collection of rents and rights of possession under various specified circumstances. Agreements come complete with full Drafting and Guidance notes and a copyright licence so that the agreement can be reproduced as many times as is required during the licence period.

A disk is provided to those customers who prefer to store the agreement onto their PC or word processor for editing and reproduction. We can provide a copy in ASCII, AmiPro or MS Word format and it is generally straightforward to transfer files between computers.

An update service is included with the Professional Series tenancy agreements. The service provides clients with the added security of knowing that they will be immediately notified of any legal changes or improvements to the forms as soon as they become available.

Pricing Information - Professional Series

The Professional Series agreement package includes: 

• Tenancy Agreement and full Drafting Notes
• Professional Series Licence
• Notification of any legal changes during the licence period

The licence renewal fee is currently £60 (+ VAT) per annum and includes any legal updates during the licence period.

Further details on request.

Unlike the pre-printed forms which are copyright, our Professional Series of letting agreements include a licence fee so that firms may reproduce the agreement on a word processor or copier for their own use. Agreements are barrister approved, can be individually customized and include comprehensive drafting notes.

Price List - Professional Series Agreements

Ordering Information: please contact the Letting Centre on 01395 271122

Which Agreement should I use ?

Most new lettings will be assured shorthold tenancies (AST) unless the tenancy is of a type excluded under the Housing Act 1988.  This section includes information from the Housing Act 1988 which allows you to determine whether you can use a the default type of agreement (assured shorthold tenancy) or whether you will need another type of agreement.

Tenancies that may not be Assured or Assured Shorthold Tenancies:

(Housing Act 1988, Section 1, and Schedule 1, as amended)

The Housing Act 1988 defines various types of tenancy that cannot be assured (or assured shorthold). These are briefly summarised below:

- A tenancy granted to a company or an organisation (e.g. tenant is a housing association or a limited company).  Assured and assured shorthold tenancies may only be granted to an individual, or in the case of a joint tenancy, joint tenants where the tenants are individuals. (Housing Act 1988, s.1)

- A tenancy granted by a resident landlord. A resident landlord is defined as one who continuously lives in the same property as his tenant. A landlord living in a separate flat or house converted into flats in which his tenant(s) live(s) may be a resident landlord. A landlord living in a separate flat in the same purpose-built block of flats as his tenant is not a resident landlord.

- A Business tenancy subject to Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

- A tenancy allowing the tenant to occupy the property for a holiday

- A tenancy of a property let together with more than two acres of agricultural land. Agricultural land is land used as arable, meadow, pasture, woodland, poultry farming, orchard or as a market garden. Such agricultural land does not include land occupied with a house as a park, or as grounds used mainly for sport or recreation. It may be safely assumed that the land is agricultural for the purposes of the Housing Act 1988 if it has been rated for council tax purposes as agricultural (Local Government Finance Act 1988).

- A tenancy of an agricultural holding

- A tenancy granted by an educational body specified within a list issued by the Secretary of State to a student studying at that same institution.

- A tenancy in which the landlord is the Crown or a Government Department.

- Protected tenancies under the Rent Act 1977 or the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976.

- A tenancy entered into before 15 January 1989, or arising as a result of a contract entered into before then.

- A tenancy of a licensed premises

- A tenancy where the landlord is a local authority, a housing action trust, certain specified statutory bodies or a fully mutual housing association (unless they are old style assured tenancies that have been converted).

- A tenancy which is rent-free or where the annual rent is less than two thirds the rateable value of the property.

- A tenancy of a property at a high rent. With the introduction of council tax, the Act was amended in 1990, Schedule 1, Section 1, Para 2(1)(b), such that tenancies with an annual rent exceeding £25,000 are now excluded.

- A tenancy will not be an assured tenancy if it falls within any of these exceptions or if it fails to meet the definition of an Assured tenancy in the Housing Act 1988. For example, if it is not let as a separate dwelling, or if the tenant does not occupy it as his only or main residence.

If the tenancy is one of the types (above) excluded under the Housing Act 1988, then the tenancy will generally operate as a common law tenancy.   In the case of a company letting, we recomend that you use a Company Letting Agreement.  In other common law tenancy situations, a General Tenancy Agreement will normally suffice.

If you are unclear as to what tenancy agreement you should use in your own particular circumstances, you should seek legal advice.

Pre-printed agreements – ordering information

Pre-printed Forms (Bulk Ordering)
The pre-printed forms are equivalent to the forms and agreements already available from other legal stationers and suppliers and provide a simple and standard form of agreement between landlord (or agent) and tenant.

Other Agreements

Guarantor Agreement

A guarantor agreement (otherwise known as a surety or rent guarantee) is generally used whenever the tenant's ability to pay the rent is in question, either as a result of poor bank credit or credit references, or due to the tenant's lack of employment or regular income.

GO1    Guarantor Agreement            £ 50.00 (+ VAT) (includes Professional Series licence)

Agency Agreement Pack

The agency agreement (otherwise known as the management agreement or terms of business) is a critical document in any letting business.  The agreement should define the duties of the agent very precisely, and the level of fees and charges that the firm may make to its client (the landlord) in return for these services.

The Letting Centre Agency Agreement Pack assists firms in preparing and updating a suitable written agreement.

P10    Agency Agreement Pack          £ 35.00 (includes sample agreement)