Our tenant of many years pays his rent on the 5th of each month (as he moved in on that date) which is also the date of our Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement. He is now on a Periodic Rolling Tenancy and would like to change the date of his rent payment from the 5th to the 26th day of the month. We can accept his request provided he makes good the 3 week’s rent between the 4th and the 26th as the rent is payable in advance. Can we update the AST to reflect this without prejudice to the existing ‘Periodic Rolling Tenancy’ status? Also, we did not ask for a deposit when our tenant moved and this is not reflected in the AST. We now would like to take the opportunity to put it in writing when the AST is amended. TIA.
I would not recommend you to alter formal date of payment as this can cause problems later if either party needs to serve notice. I would just verbally agree to accept the rent later in the month, but covering the same period.
Thanks for your feedback. If he misses payment on the 26th, does it mean that his rent arrears would start from the 5th?
Yes it would be arrears from 5th
We have agreed to this in the past. The tenant has to pay for the interim period as you suggest.
We did a deed of variation rather than issuing a new tenancy. Personally it made no difference to me and if it helped the tenant why not?
Thanks for your response. Our tenant has paid the interim period so I’ve drawn up an Addendum to the AST to reflect the changed date etc.
Oh dear. I hope you dont live to regret that.
We haven’t yet signed the document. I would be grateful if you can give me an example of what kind of problems I may face. As it stands, the tenant has paid the interim period so as far as he’s concerned, the original payment date on the AST no longer applies.
So you now have a payment date that is out of sync with the tenancy period, (which would remain as per the agreement). The confusion tends to arise over what dates apply to either a tenants notice to quit or a landlords notice.
Thanks for the info.
Can make it difficult to establish notice periods if you ever fall out with tenant. If you stay friends, it won’t be an issue.
Thanks Tony. The tenancy has gone into a Statutory Periodic Tenancy anyway and I’m flexible with the notice period. The next door neighbors of the property are very good friends and they have recommended the tenant to us so I’m not anticipating any problems.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.