Tenancy agreements

[Sharpkat]

Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I rent a property - for various reasons all bills are included even though it is a completely separate flat to my landlords.

He mentioned putting the rent up the other day - no issue there - have been here 23 months and he has not put it up and I know fuel bills etc have gone up. I think he may want me to move out (long story but he is upset with me about a few things totally not related to my flat) which is why he mentioned putting the rent up, but tbh I have been here so long I would happily pay more.

I moved here in Feb 10. We had a one year shorthold tenancy agreement which ran out in Feb 11 so I have just realised that there is no valid contract/tenancy agreement.

Also realised I did not get a gas certificate in 2011 but with no contract I guess I cannot push the issue.

How do I work out how much notice he would have to give me if he did want me to move on the basis that there is no current signed agreement? Or do I go back to the estate agents who did the tenancy agreement and see what they say? Only thing is that I know that the EA called landlord to see if he wanted to rent it out as he could make much more per month than he is currently doing which has annoyed me.

Hope that makes some sense.

TIA if anyone has any advice.

[LIZS]

An AST can roll on with standard terms and conditions (usually 2 months' notice on part of ll, 1 on your side) unless otherwise specified and no rent increase. So legally you currently do have a contract. You only needed a need a new one for a rent rise, change of terms or if it is a longer term agreement than an AST can be used for. It is very unusual to have inclusive rent , what about CT ? It could be messy if you needed to claim benefit.

[bamboobutton]

agree with lizs, you are on a rolling contract now with all the protections of a normal contract.

[Tillyscoutsmum]

Yes - as they ^ say - you continue the tenancy on exactly the same terms as before and have full legal protection. Your Landlord would need to give you 2 months notice to vacate and you would need to give him one months notice if you wanted to leave.

With regard to the gas certificate, your Landlord is breaking the law if he doesn't have a valid one for the property. I would strongly suggest to him that you will not pay an increased rental until he has a valid one in place

[Sharpkat]

Thank you all so much for the very prompt and comprehensive advice.

The last gas certificate I have a copy of is from 14th Feb 2010, so am not agreeing to any increased rent until I get a copy for 2011 (which he may have) and know that I am getting one for 2012.

The bills included is very strange. It was his family house and he split it into flats, but did not put separate meters in hence why I pay one lump sum for rent, council tax, electricity, gas and water. Interesting to think about the CT side of things as I am not currently working, but don't think I will be going down the benefits route, but good to know.

One very last question - how much written notice would he have to give me to increase the rent? 1 or 2 months?

Really appreciate all of the advice I get from here - think the EA would have let on that I was asking questions, so would have caused me some issues.

Have a great weekend everyone.

[Sharpkat]

Thanks!