Read the small print before you let your apartment as a serviced apartment

by PropertyBlawg on September 25, 2012

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The following is a guest post regarding property letting considerations in England & Wales.

If you’re thinking of letting out your property as a serviced apartment be sure to check your lease agreement.  Owning a serviced apartment is different from a standard rental property.  Not understanding the difference between the two could cause complications with your tenants.

You will often find that you are not permitted to rent your property out as a short term let.  A common reason for this could be that with more people coming in and out of the property the general condition of it is likely to degrade quicker than if you were just living there, or if it was let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement.

The next question that is often asked about this would be is there any way around this?  The answer to that unfortunately is no.

Could you rent the property out on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (AST)?

Again, doing this would be very risky and would be advised against.  Your short term tenant would have the right to stay in your property for a minimum of 6 months which obviously isn’t what you want.  You would have to take out a court order to evict them.

With an AST you would also be under legal obligation to protect your tenant’s deposits and not be able to enter the property without notice.  This would not work with a short term let.

One way you could possibly get around the problem is to use an AST but have written signed consent from the tenant to terminate the agreement early.  You would need to make sure you kept good records of all of this just in case there are any issues.

If you know you are going to let the property out as a short term serviced apartment before you buy it, ask your Solicitor to look into this as a matter of urgency.  Having a serviced apartment is very much like running a business, you need to check the small print before you use your leasehold apartment as a business.

You can use ClaredonUK for quality serviced apartments in London

 

 

 

PropertyBlawg

PropertyBlawg

Property Law Blogger at PropertyBlawg
Property Blawg is a property law blog covering property law in the UK and beyond, and the post above has been published because of the high value associated with the author's work. Contact us if you'd like to get published today. Powered by YouBlawg.
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