When signing a lease to rent a flat.....

[ETsmum]

do the signatures HAVE to be witnessed to make it legal? I don't remember getting ours witnessed when we rented a few years back, but now we are renting out our own flat I don't know where we stand. And the lease is being signed tomorrow am.....

Please help us with our dilema. TIA

Not a direct answer, but won't it be implicit on the lease agreeemtn - I assume you have had one drawn up by a solicitor?

Just looked at one I got last year - the landlord's signatures were witnessed. HTH.

You need to have a witness for your signature(s)

iirc we did as landlord but if the tenants were it was done by the managing agent. (can't find a copy now to check)

yep, they do.

Thanks for your advice Will make sure we DO get all sigs witnessed.

Ladymuck - the lease was copied form one drawn up by a local (and very reputasble) estate/letting agent. We don't have soliciters over here (Guernsey in the Channel Islands) but advocates instead and were told the lease didn't HAVE to be drawn up by them (saves us money )

Thanks again for the advice - nowhere open for us to check any other way!

Ah, if you're in Guernsey there is every possibility that the law is different to the mainland UK.

Tell me about it!! But we're going to play it on the safe side anyway.

I can't believe I'm so nervous - we bought this flat a month ago (been sorting things out since about Sep last year) and we NEED tenants to pay the mortgage for a few years.

Once it's all signed, I'l feel soooo much better, but fear I may be a night owl on here tonight