Replacing Joint Tenant - new contract or periodic tenancy?

[turnersham]

We rent out a flat currently to two joint tenants.

Mr A has told us he is vacating the property at the end of the six month term. Mr B wants to stay in the property but can only afford half the rent.

Mr A has found somebody willing to move in and all is agreeable with Mr B. We have requested references and employment check which has come back fine.

However, we would prefer to keep the tenancy as a periodic can we just do an amendment to the existing contract adding Miss C as a new tenant and removing Mr A or would a new contract have to be set up?

Could we just add Miss C as a permitted resident and keep it as a monthly rollover?

What would be the legal implications of each one for us as landlords?

Thank you

[Snorkerz]

You can have a periodic tenancy from day 1 - it doesn't have to be a fixed term. http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/201...iodic-tenancy/. You would not be able to evict under section 21 in the first 6 months.

However, Mr A can (with yours & Mr Bs permission) assign his place on the tenancy to Miss C - BUT - that is likely to get messy for both sides when it comes to deposits. http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index...g_tenants/0-25

[westminster]

We rent out a flat currently to two joint tenants.

Mr A has told us he is vacating the property at the end of the six month term. Mr B wants to stay in the property but can only afford half the rent.

Mr A has found somebody willing to move in and all is agreeable with Mr B. We have requested references and employment check which has come back fine.

However, we would prefer to keep the tenancy as a periodic can we just do an amendment to the existing contract adding Miss C as a new tenant and removing Mr A or would a new contract have to be set up?

Yes, you can assign Mr A's position to Miss C by a deed of assignment. It'd be advisable to pay a solicitor to do this.

Could we just add Miss C as a permitted resident and keep it as a monthly rollover?

Yes, but Mr A would continue to be one of the joint tenants, and jointly and individually liable for all of the rent; and I doubt he'd want that. And Miss C wouldn't be a tenant therefore not liable for the rent. And Mr A could serve notice to quit at any time after the tenancy became periodic, thus ending the whole tenancy.

What would be the legal implications of each one for us as landlords?

In the first scenario, the implications are possibly that Miss C won't want to take on liability for any damage caused during the first six months of the tenancy. So it'd be advisable to do a check-out/check-in inventory when she moved in, return Mr A's deposit (less any agreed deductions), and start with a fresh slate.

The second scenario isn't viable.

There's a third scenario. End the current tenancy of Mr A & Mr B by a deed of surrender. Grant a contractual periodic tenancy to Mr B and Miss C - ASTs don't have to be fixed term.

But do bear in mind that, in a periodic tenancy (statutory or contractual), then any/either one of the joint tenants can end the whole tenancy at any time by serving valid notice to quit.*

*I'm only guessing that this applies to contractual periodic tenancies (as well as statutory ones), on the basis that, if notice had to be served by all joint tenants together, then theoretically an individual tenant might never be able to exit the contract without the cooperation of all the other tenants.