Hi everyone,
I’m currently sorting out a tenancy agreement and came across the term “independent legal advice.” I’m a bit confused about when it’s actually required.
Is it only needed for deeds and guarantees, or are there other situations where landlords or tenants should consider getting independent legal advice?
I’d also be interested to hear if anyone here has had to arrange it. What was the process like, and where did you get the independent legal advice from?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
@David289
Your tenancy agreement is a financial contract potentially for many years commitment- it’s hard to end it if tenant doesn’t want to leave (eg 3 months rent arrears plus 4 weeks then apply for possession takes a further 8 months on average to eviction). So you want it to be right.
You can use an off the shelf agreement such as via an agent or Openrent or nrla. Many advantages.
Some are much more detailed than others eg
And
But if you have very specific non standard things you want added to your agreement (eg relating to how garden will be maintained, or about the pets allowed) then unless you are a lawyer used to drafting such things you may want legal advice otherwise anything you try drafting yourself may not be legally enforceable.
(You can share draft clauses in landlord fora here but that’s not legal advice)
Of course many clauses aren’t terribly legally enforceable anyway (eg impossible to monitor how well /badly cleaning is done in between inspection visits or whether a tenant does ventilate a property to avoid risk of mould) and are about setting expectations in writing for both LL and tenant responsibilitie so that eg at end of tenancy you can point to both inventory photos and contract to claim gardener costs if garden has turned into a jungle from a previously exemplary condition. I have extractor fans that should be left on continuously for ventilation I have a clause for that. And (as OR only specifies pay by commencement date) a specific date by when balance of initial rent to be paid.
Nrla have some trusted partners here
From memory nrla also have examples of additional non standard clauses LLs may want to use.
Some LLs also advise separate guarantor agreements - otherwise when eg rent increases if guarantor hasn’t been part of the process to change the tenancy they might not be obligated any more (or not for the increase amount at least)
Likewise if you are using less standard arrangements like serviced accommodation, lodger agreements or rent to rent agreements, where RRA doesn’t apply so there’s much less guidance online, you might need more legal advice I guess
Best