Advice for letting home for three months

[jonners]

Hi there,

I want to rent out my London flat for three months while I am away. A seemingly normal couple are keen to let it - they seem very sound and are providing all appropriate references, etc.

However, I want to cover myself as much as possible. I understand a AST is not much good because I can only get a repossession order after 6 months, regardless of the term on the agreement (we will need to move back into the property at the end of the three months).

It also seems a Holiday Let agreement would be invalid (as this will be the tenants only property).

From trawling the internet, it seems that a Short fixed-term SAT, preceded by a Notice under ground 1 might be my best bet (but still with risks).

Can anyone tell me if this does look like the best option and, if so, how I would go about getting one drawn up?

Thanks in advance

J

[Grrr]

I know some agents specialise in these sorts of let, but they charge astronomical fees - ie 20% plus.

[mattl]

Depends, if you have made this absolutely clear to them and they are absolutely happy with it then maybe the following:

Another poster mentioned an option that I find interesting - but not sure if it would work:

rent for the three months - £500 per month
rent from month 4 onwards - £5,000 per month

Now granted, this still means that they could refuse you taking back possession, but I think tenants can always do this and let you have to go to court and seek (and enforce) possession... so if you want to be absolutely sure you'd need to somehow manage to downrate them as licensees only, who you can kick our a lot easier. but this is easier said than done -- if they have exclusive possession they will be deemed tenants rather than licensees.

[bbva]

You cannot be guaranteed to get possession back after 3 months. If the seemingly normal couple decide to stay on, I am not sure of the procedure to remove them as it is not an AST. I would be inclined to go with a short term agency rent. Even if the fees are 25%, the rentals are very high and you get all the money upfront.