Hello
I am a new landlord just getting my property ready to let. It seems there is much to learn and I am trying to do as much reading as possible. I have a question about the length of tenancy to offer. I was thinking of 12 months but just wondered what people usually do? and why?
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Hi great to see you reaching out to the Community as a new landlord 
The first thing to know is that the legal minimum for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy is in practice six months. There is no maximum, but if you have a fixed term of longer than seven years, then you are required to register the tenancy with the land registry.
So in practice, landlords usually stick to between six* months and seven years.
I’ll let landlords respond with their own experiences and opinions about what the best period of time is in between those two markers!
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As Sam said do sex months ,sorry six months. If you do any longer you might regret it… If you get a good tenant then you can extend it…
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Thank you.
Did not notice the ‘sex months’ !!
i only do 12months minimum and this seems to be the normal time for such on a AST
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I only ever start tenants on a six month tenancy. You can usually tell if they are good or bad plus do a six month inspection if all is well you can just allow the contract to roll on.
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Me too. That way if tenant or landlord is not happy then they are not tied in. I usually start with 6 months, and then all being well renew yearly after that. It gives me a chance to visit property and check all is well. Sometimes tenants don’t let you know about repairs straight away and it the sooner you can get some repairs done then the better.
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Me too. 6 months every time. 12 months is a long time if you have bad tenants. Very unlikely tenants will be put off by this. Also check your mortage and insurance conditions. My mortgage stipulates max 12 months and the insurance minimum 6 months for the fixed period.
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Hi
I let out one of my properties a few months ago and I had 92 enquiries and three days of viewings before I found the right tenant. As you can appreciate this was time consuming, therefore I do not want to repeat this process in 6 months time. My advice is decide on the criteria a tenant must meet before renting your property and be patient. They might look promising from the conversations you have with them but when you meet them it might become clear that they do not meet your criteria. I also have two tenancy agreements one for 12 months and the other for 12 months with a 6 months break clause. If I am 100% happy with them after doing all my checks they are offered 12 months without a break clause which means I don’t have to worry about finding new tenants for at least 12months.
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Ali3, your rental price advertised may need to be increased if that was your response rate, that may do away with a lot of people you didn’t want anyway, what do you think about increasing your rent next time you go to rent out?