Standard Openrent contracts have no fixed term?

Landlord Discussion
1

Hi, i am a first time landlord (Scotland) so sorry for making mistakes. I’ve made a mistake when i didnt examine the contract setup by Openrent between myself and the tenant. Because basically the contract allows the tenant to leave with 28 days notice. Anytime. So even after i guess a month or two. I am a bit surprised by this given the upfront costs to the landlord of setting up new tenancy. But it is my fault for not looking at it closely.
Reason i bring it up as tenant wants to leave and has given me 28 days notice. They will have been there exactly 6 months (nothing in contract says anything about minimum 6 month lease)

So i will need to first to the closing process for the old tenant, check inventory and any problems then release their deposit and then start the whole process again for a new tenant. I wonder if i need to do all new certificates and reports (eicr, epc etc) for a new tenancy within a year and of course the other costings like reference checks etc. This is why i am surprised the 28 days clause is as standard within the default open rent contract.

Its a lesson learnt…i’d like to learn lessons without it costing me unnecesary money.

2

Hi Chris108

The certificates EPC EICR GSC etc relate to the property, as long as they are in date there is no need to renew although you will have to serve them again for any new tenancy. If you use Rent Now, Openrent will take care of that side of things for you.

As for Openrent open end tenancy agreement, I cannot comment as the rules for Scotland are different other than to say this type of tenancy will soon be introduced for England and Wales although I think a tenants will have to give 2 months notice.

3

Hi @Chris108,

This is standard for properties in Scotland since the creation of new shorthold tenancy agreements, known as Short Assured Tenancies (SATs), was banned in December 2017 and replaced with Private Residential Tenancy agreements (PRTs).

The Scottish government provide guidance on setting up a private residential tenancy agreement:

There is no fixed length for private residential tenancies. The tenancy continues indefinitely until you or the tenant end it.

They also offer guidance on ending the tenancy:

[The tenant] must give you at least 28 days’ notice (4 weeks). If they send it by email or letter, they must allow 2 extra days for you to receive it.

Our Rent Now PRT contract is fully compliant with Scottish law, a sample of this can be viewed on this page.

@Christopher32 is correct that, as long as the necessary certificates and safety checks are still valid, you won’t need new ones just yet.

4

I’m not a Scottish landlord but I suspect the Openrent contract complies with Scottish law.

I suggest you do some urgent research of being a landlord in Scotland, as what else do you not know? Any lack of knowledge is a risk to you.

5

Chris108, as a first time landlord with little knowledge of the law and compliance requirements you are in danger of making more mistakes that could incur a severe financial penalty. I would strongly urge you to undertake landlord training before re-letting.

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yes thank you for this. In terms of withdrawing from the contract…it is heavily in favour of the tenant. No reason at all needed..just 28 days..whereas the Landlord has a strict delineated process depending on which reason is given. Making me rethink this business.

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