With residential lettings it is often the case that once a tenant has been found the transaction needs to complete very quickly. This can mean that Managing Trustees and their agents often do not contact TMCP until a few days before the letting is due to commence. This does not leave a lot of time for the tenancy agreement to be agreed and the legal steps complied with.
TMCP has prepared detailed guidance for Managing Trustees and their agents which is available on the TMCP website (Residential Tenancies).
To enable TMCP to approve the letting in good time we would ask that Managing Trustees notify us as soon as they have taken the decision to let/re-let the property, giving TMCP at least two weeks’ notice where possible.
TMCP appreciate that at that stage a tenant may not have been found but there are steps that can be dealt with prior to finding a tenant. For instance, the form of tenancy agreement and clauses can be agreed prior to finding a tenant. By agreeing the tenancy agreement in advance this should mean that when a tenant is found that TMCP simply need to check that the rent and tenants details have been entered correctly. As you may be aware TMCP now provide a form of assured shorthold tenancy agreement (‘AST’) which contains the Methodist and charity law clauses. This AST is available from TMCP Legal upon request. Even if Managing Trustees want to use their agent’s tenancy agreement, referring to the TMCP AST is a good starting point as it shows agents where the clauses need to be inserted into the tenancy agreement.
On the TMCP website there is also a helpful checklist for Managing Trustees to use which contains all the steps that Managing Trustees need to comply with to ensure that TMCP can give approval to the letting (Residential Tenancy (Landlord) Checklist).
Unfortunately, TMCP cannot guarantee meeting commencement dates for lettings where we have not been given sufficient notice. As mentioned above, if Managing Trustees can give us at least two weeks’ notice of an intended commencement date we will do what we can to work towards such a date. Success relies on Managing Trustees and their letting agents ensuring that the requirements set out in the Residential Tenancy (Landlord) Checklist and the Residential Tenancy (Landlord) Guidance are satisfied without delay.
Please help your residential tenancies to progress smoothly by:
- Letting TMCP know about proposed lettings as soon as possible i.e. before the property is even advertised or a tenant is found.
- Keeping TMCP informed of proposed moving in dates and highlighting this in correspondence.
- Using the extensive guidance that is available on the Residential Tenancies page on our website.
If you have any queries on the legal requirements and/or steps that Managing Trustees must adhere to when granting a residential tenancy of Methodist property then you can contact TMCP Legal and a member of our legal team will be happy to assist you.