Letting a property for strictly six months only.

[SaltySeaMaiden]

Can I let out a very nice, well-maintained little detached house for just six months if a tenant pays all rent and deposit up front. What if I got a bad tenant who wouldn't leave? I want to avoid having to take anyone to court. Is there any legal agreement that could be in place that means they absolutely have to leave after six months? Sorry I'm not aware of housing rules. I would rather leave it empty than risk having to evict someone. What are the legal implications here?

In short you can't! You can't end a tenancy only the tenant or a court can. If you need that house back in 6 months don't rent it out on a shorthold tenancy agreement.

You could airbnb it, but then you obviously have to clean etc..... between guests.

Without going to court, there is no way of forcing a tenant to leave. The whole system relies on people doing the Right Thing.

Mist people do leave at the end if a tenancy.

I suppose the easiest way is to ask around friends / colleagues if someone needs a place for a few months. People do sometimes. And then I would rather go with someone who definitely needs a place only for 2 months rather than with someone who needs a place for about 5 months, if you see what I mean.

I'd leave it empty.

Unfortunately, landlords have been such bastards in the past that the rules are now shifting heavily to combat this. And as an unfortunate byproduct, bad tenants will now be able to take major advantage of and completely fuck over the landlords that are actually decent.

Do not rent it out. You'll very likely get fucked over by people who refuse to leave. This is why I stopped being a landlord. The laws now protect shit tenants to such a degree that it's made renting out your property a nightmare.

Often it's not that a tenant is "bad". It's their circumstances changing and them being unable to leave because of not finding somewhere else to go.

However, I assume you could let it as a short-term holiday let.

Don't know if this might be helpful
https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/letyourcottage/advice/article/what-is-a-holiday-let

Alternatively if you're looking for someone to occupy the house, to look after it, notify of any problems/maintenance issues, etc, rather than just wanting extra money, you could look at house-sitting.

I think there are companies that vet house-sitters and have house-sitters who can provide references from previous house-sitting placements.

Sometimes it's retired couples who own their own home but just fancy a temporary change of scenery.

There presumably won't be a massive pool of tenants that only want 6 months either? You could wait 6 months to find someone who only wants/would accept temporary accommodation. People wanting to rent a home will not want the cost and hassle of moving after such a short time.

As PP have said, you're really looking at AirB&B/Holiday let or house sitters for such a short timeframe.

Thanks for all your advice. It's unfortunately as I thought. I've been letting it as an Airbnb for almost a year with no problems. It's actually in my back garden. My mother is terminally ill 400 miles away, so I've shut it down for future bookings, and have been honouring the ones I've got. I will be going to live with her for however long she's got left. I've had two enquiries from local estate agents who are looking to place people for 3-6 months who are having their own house renovated, or perhaps they're looking to buy locally. Either way, if they decide to stay on, there doesn't seem to be any way I could get them out, especially since section 21 is going. If they start paying rent after the six months is up, they could be there forever. That's my understanding anyway. Looks like it's going to remain empty.

@SaltySeaMaiden well it would depend what the contract is. We used to do this over winter in our holiday home so would quite often have an insurance job person ( flood or fire) for 3-6 months. It was basically an air bnb type contract but we just gave a better rate than we would for a 1-2 week stay. I had an agent who dealt with it. I would maybe ask the EAs and see what they say.

It's in your garden? Is it registered as a separate dwelling or part of your house? If it's not a separate dwelling then you could rent it under a licence agreement rather than a tenancy.

It is in my garden. It is classed as part of my property and although we pay a band higher than next door (who have the same size main house but no little house in their garden), we don't pay a separate council tax for it. It's a detached brick built one bed bungalow.

I think you're relatively safe with 3 months on a house renovation, because whilst many people will find it takes a bit longer than suggested to renovate, nobody spending a lot to renovate will want to continue to pay to live in rented as well.

In that case you can let under a licence agreement. Will anyone be staying in your house? Will you be going back there periodically? A licence agreement would allow you to give a shorter period of notice and be able to evict without a court order.

Hi GuestFeatu, thank you for the information. I've looked up licence agreements and although they look good, apparently they can still be contested by a tenant who doesn't want to leave. This is my understanding anyway. I've pasted what I read here:
Can a licensee be evicted?
Yes, but caution must be observed in regards to removing a licensee. It is not advisable to change the locks without first obtaining expert legal advice beforehand, as the property owner will need to be aware of any possible counterclaims that can be made by the occupier of the property. If the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 applies to the licence, then the property owner will need to serve a legal notice on the licensee in order to terminate their licence. Should the licensee remain in occupation of the property after the end date on the notice, then the occupant will be a trespasser and court action will be required to remove them.
If the occupant has an excluded licence, then the protections afforded under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 will not apply, but a careful analysis will need to be undertaken in order to determine this, particularly because even where a licence is excluded, the property owner still needs to consider the criminal offences that can be committed when trying to gain entry to the property.
The fact that an agreement purports to create a licence does not mean that it will be construed as a licence, and not a tenancy. In the case of Street v Mountfordrd*^, the House of Lords held that the court should look at the substance as well as the form of the agreement in deciding whether an agreement is a licence or a tenancy. Parties cannot turn what is in reality a tenancy, into a licence, by calling it a licence. Even if a document is labelled a licence, case law illustrates that the courts are prepared to look beyond that label and might find that a tenancy exists.

Don't know if this is still possible but when I was a boy our next door neighbours went to NZ for a year and rented their property to the Army. We had a sergeant of the Guards and his family living there who'd just come back from Germany.

End of the year, they moved to married quarters elsewhere in London and our neighbours moved back in.

I know of someone who has rented out via the army recently. Also I think there are agencies who specialise in letting property to people who come from abroad to work in the UK for short periods.

Airbnb only. All other options- you are opening yourself up to be ducked

Is it not possible to get someone local to continue to look after it as an airbnb for you in your absence ?

I am sure there are companies that do this in my area.

Otherwise you might find a cleaner who is willing to take on the role of airbnb property manager for some extra cash.

OP, your starting point should be that every contract can be contested. It may not be contested successfully and the contest may not get very far, but under every kind of contract the other party may not fulfil their obligations under the contract so you would have to go to court to enforce it (or threaten to do so).

I work with a LOT of Landlords and generally they don't offer 6 month tenancies because by the time they pay all costs associated with getting a fully vetted Tenant in they will only make money for 3 or 4 months (depending on rents) and after 6 months they have to do it all again AND that assumes the Tenant leaves happily after 6 months with no issues.
I place clients with Landlords at a rate of 2 or 3 a month and always request a 6 month break clause but I have had precisely 1 this year.

Possibly consider:

• advertising in a university publication or intranet intended for staff, not students, ideally via someone who works there. Some people come for 2 terms (January to the end of the academic year) on placement, or there are sometimes spin-off businesses where an industry- and research-related placement could mean a need for short-term.
• or finding whether a local estate agent handles such contracts. A friend had to move out of her house due to a v. bad roof leak problem and fortunately got a 6 month let not too far away (normally a holiday let) as her kids were finishing exams.

6 months rent is pretty insignificant when you consider how badly things could end up. Even the best tenant can have end up having financial problems, that then become your problem. Dont do it!!

I'd drop the air bnb price and then do minimum 2-3 months on air bnb

The six months of rent could easily be wiped out if they damage floors and bathroom etc.