Mr P and Ms J came into our office with a Notice to Quit which they had received from their landlord. They were very concerned that the landlord had only given them 2 weeks to move out, and had nowhere else to go. Looking at the Tenancy Agreement which Mr P and Ms J had signed, it was clear that they were Assured Shorthold Tenants, and therefore entitled to at least 2 months' written notice. Furthermore, since the Tenancy Agreement still had 4 months left to run, we advised Mr P and Ms J that they did not have to move out until the original Tenancy Agreement ran out, or until the landlord obtained a Possession Order against them.
Mrs H was worried about being a Guarantor under her son's Tenancy Agreement which her son and three of his friends had already signed. The Agreement said that if any of the tenants did not pay their rent, then Mrs H would be liable to pay it. We explained to Mrs H that she was effectively being asked to be Guarantor for all of the tenants, not just her son. When we challenged the landlord about this he refused to change the terms of the Agreement and so we advised Mrs H not to sign it. Further to our advice, Mrs H's son found somewhere else to live.
Mrs A wanted to add an extension to the property she rented from her landlord. The Tenancy Agreement said she could only do this with her landlord's consent. When Mrs A approached her landlord he asked for £25,000 for giving his permission. We felt that the landlord was taking advantage of Mrs A. We arranged for a specialist surveyor to prepare a valuation of the property assuming the extension was completed. With this information we were able to negotiate the landlord's offer down to £13,000.