In the past, when managing a buy to let property myself, I have once gone to a solicitor, who, for an inexpensive fee, arranged one and gave invaluable advice. Other times, I have had a large employer and also the council, who have acted as agents and provided tenancy agreements at no cost to myself.
I know some websites have free tenancy templates, including the Gov’t. website and WH Smith even sell a DIY pack.
How do you do it?
You join the NRLA and use all their free to member documents, including their TA model.
Openrent agreement (freely available to download but not the customisable version) or Landlord Law agreement (membership required) are also popular. Both are regularly updated for changes in the law.
I have formatted one based on gov site template since I have a number of specific points for various properties,NRLA and open rent ones are not that elaborate to my liking, open rent one is slightly more detailed compared to NRLA.
Has nobody else here ever gone to a solicitor for one?
you can buy them from solicitors suppliers , but how would you know if it was the latest one?
Sorry, are solicitors’ suppliers different than solicitors?
Surely a solicitor would provide an up to date one and provide the best advice?
you would think that they would give the up to date advice…, I only know of one supplier in liverpool . The suppliers sell a range of paperwork and legal stuff. The NRLA have a good agreement
So, by supplier, do you mean a business who supplies solicitors with Tenancy Agreements for clients?
Yes a supplier of legal documents to solicitors
Thank you very much.
@Niteowl I think you are making this more expensive than it needs to be. All of the landlord associations others have recommended will provide free, up to date, legally compliant agreements. I use the Guild of Residential Landlords excellent tenancy builder and serve the document electronically. Simples!
Joining any of these associations will also provide you with legal advice, training and backup if you need it.
Thank you all.
What are your views on the model Tenancy Agreements provided on the Govt. website?
Once signed by landord and tenant, is a solicitor involved at all?
The Gov’t model is a mixed bag. Very thorough in some ways, but overly long and contains clauses giving tenants more rights to keep pets than most landlords would want.
There’s no need to involve a solicitor when both agree to a tenancy.
I use Openrent RentNow. Very simple, efficient with contract signed electronically.
Join NRLA use theirs it’s more landlord friendly, upto date plus create a few local clauses that you want to add. If in doubt call their free help line.
NRLA is quite good, but there are important things omitted from that, and having been pointed out, they refuse to amend.