The large majority of tenants do not want long tenancy agreements.
Eight out of ten want tenancies of a year or less, according to a finding by the Deposit Protection Service. It flies in the face of the likes of Shelter, which has been campaigning for three-year tenancies to become the norm.
A total of 39,855 tenants whose deposits are protected by The DPS responded to its survey, with 80.1% saying that they preferred agreements that lasted no longer than 12 months.
Most (70%) said that they preferred a rolling contract of one or two months’ notice at the end of their tenancy rather than a new fixed-term contract, which was preferred by 28%.
Julian Foster, DPS managing director, said: “This comprehensive survey suggests that the idea that tenants crave longer tenancies is a myth.
“Like landlords, many tenants prefer the flexibility provided by shorter tenancy agreements rather than being locked into long commitments over where they live and who they rent from.
“Tenancy agreements are vital ingredients in establishing happy tenancies for both landlords and tenants, and it’s critical that they reflect the needs of both parties.”
Agents and landlords don’t mind – more renewal fees!
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Can this be right?. Are we getting mis-information from Shelter? I think we all know the answer.
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I used to work inside the M25 and the average length of our tenancies was 16 months. We did charge a renewal fee – £20 to cover admin costs.
We would always do year long contracts with 6 month break clauses and a lapse into periodic until the Superstrike ruling.
Then we went into repeated year long contracts with 6 month breaks.
Wasn’t our fault that we had to charge tenants more – but we kept it sensible.
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Good old Shelter. You can always rely on them to ignore public opinion in favour of their own political agenda!
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