This is an assured shorthold tenancy agreement (AST) which is the most common type of residential lease agreement. It is suitable where the rent is up to £100,000 per annum.If the rent is in excess of this, you need a non-assured shorthold tenancy. The difference is that the non-assured tenancy falls outside the scope of the Housing Act 1996. Thus, the tenant is afforded more protection by using a document such as this Assured Shorthold Tenancy. Both types of document comply with the Housing Act 1988.
The Assured Shorthold Tenancy is the default tenancy for most dwellings in England and Wales. It is a form of Assured tenancy with limited security of tenure, which was introduced by the Housing Act 1988, with important changes made by the Housing Act 1996. The landlord has the right to terminate the tenancy by using a “section 21 notice”, which in practice results in a minimum notice period of 2 months. There is no minimum length for which an assured shorthold tenancy may be granted and a section 21 notice can be served at any time. However, when court proceedings are based on the Section 21 Notice the court cannot order the tenant to give up possession earlier than six months from the beginning of the tenancy. Where one assured shorthold tenancy follows another, the tenant is protected for only 6 months from the beginning of the first tenancy under which the premises were occupied.
There are a number of exceptions set out in the Housing Act 1988 which exclude a tenancy from being an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, for example:
The Landlord is a resident landlord (eg. Annexes or some conversions)
the rent was greater than £25,000 per annum – increased to £100,000.00 from 1st October 2010
none of the tenants occupying the property do so as a principal home
the tenant is not an individual (for example, it is a limited company)
the landlord is a local council