Hi all, my tenants (Matt and Sue) are getting married.They have a periodic tenancy and have been with me for 3 years. Can I or do I need to amend the existing AST to reflect the change of surname for Sue? or does it have to be a new AST? If a new tenancy is required, do I have to give them the latest issue of ‘right to rent’, return their deposit (8 weeks rent) and re-submit (now 5 weeks rent)? Re-do the check-in inventory? Re-do the ECIR (which I believe is required each time a new tenancy created)? Redo the reference for the guarantor and ask them to sign a new agreement? Or can I just let them continue with their existing tenancy without changing anything?
Any help / guidance will be gratefully received.
Many thanks.
The electric cert should be on the building not the tenant. Just let them continue ,they are still the same people
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That seems sensible, but the engineer who did the electrical test, told me, change of name is change of tenant, change of tenant requires a new test ? Also should I ever need to evict, what names do I put on the eviction order, old or new? If new, will the judge say, names on eviction order do not match those on the AST and throw it out on a technicality? Or if old names, will the tenant say, that’s not me, I’m Mrs ??? Likewise, any claims against the guarantor could fail for the same reason?
th tenant is still the same the electrican is a greedy…
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You dont need to do anything in response to the tenants getting married. In any future notices you would just refer to the tenant as Sue x nee y, that is if she changes her name.
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I agree with David.
The EICR is independant of who occupies the place: it only needs a re-check after X years as stated in the certificate. If it does not state that, then I suspect the electrician concerned is not qualified to perform that check. ( X is typically 10 years and needs a good reason to be less than that).
some greedy electricians will put "change of tenant " some give 5 years . Always ask before accepting a quote … How long is this for? Thus you can avoid the rip off merchants
5 years is now the ststutory maximum.
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I checked the certificate and it states re-inspection and test after 2 years. I guess I’ve been ripped off. Found this chap via check-a-trade and he had excellent reviews!
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give him a bad review and do not use again. Reviews mean nothing though ,could be from family members… Word of mouth everything from people who have had the job done
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Our electrician said the same but we looked it up. An EICr is an EICr. It lasts five years whatever it says. I’d ask him to provide an amendment free. Correct no new tenancy or inventory required, but if you did decide to do a new tenancy the deposit situation depends on your scheme. A custodial deposit is just left where it is, but an insured one needs reinsuring if a tenancy is renewed.
Andrea from Astute Property and Asset Management Limited
i would issue an addendum reflecting the name change and leave it at that, just get it signed.
I’m not surprised. I had a rip off roofer who had brill reviews on check trade and also a plumber. Word of mouth is the only sure way and even then different people have different experiences.
Providing you hire a qualified electrician the EICR certificate is valid 5 years whatever the tester may have wrote on it.
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Just write to the tenants congratulating them and state , although married the AST remains in her nee name and this letter acknowledges her married name. All rights remain the same.
Electrical test is every 5 years. If you ever upgrade the consumer unit, pay the extra and fit RCBO for greater protection of the older cable installation.
The EICR frequency is every 5 years unless the Electrician specifies a shorter period in the report.
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You’ve got 8 weeks’ rent as a deposit? I believe you need to return 3 weeks’ immediately as the maximum that can be held under any tenancy is now 5 weeks’ worth.
EICR is for maximum of 5 years and retesting time is at the discretion of the ‘engineer’. Shorter dated ones are usually issued if your electrics don’t meet current standards but are safe to use (no C1 of FI codes). Checked this with NICEIC.
Checkatrade and trustatrader are a joke. For paid members it’s almost impossible to leave a negative review. Everyone on there has a score of over 9! Think about it, if a trader gets bad reviews they come off the site and stop paying. Website makes it exhausting to leave a bad review.
It’s easy to leave fake good ones!
I thought that’s only for new tenancies after 2019 Tenant Fees Act? In this case, the tenancy started prior to that and the tenancy lapsed into a periodic tenancy, therefore this is not a “new tenancy” as defined in the Act. So @Alex15 can hold the 8 weeks deposit until the tenancy is renewed or otherwise meets the definition of a “new tenancy”.
There was a 1 year transition period from 1st June 2019 to 1st June 2020 in which the rules only applied to new tenancies. Thereafter applied to all tenancies. Can hold 6 weeks’ deposit if annual rent on tenancy is >£50k