Tenants rights – tips and advice
If you’re a tenant, or looking to become one, you will at some point want to know your tenants rights. However, information online and ‘advice’ from others can make it hard to sort the fact from fiction. There’s always someone ready to share a scary tenant story, but tenants rights can be a grey area. It might be comforting to know that as a tenant moving into a private rented property, you have tenants rights. And, as a landlord they also have their own rights and responsibilities. Most of the time these are defined in your tenancy agreement, so if you’re unsure, check there first. All tenants have the basic rights and a tenancy agreement can’t take these away. If your landlord tries to remove your rights in any way, they could be breaking the law.
what a tenancy agreement should include
As a tenant in a rented property, your tenancy agreement provides you with tenants rights such as:
- The right to live in a property that’s safe and in a good state of repair
- Having your deposit returned at the end of the tenancy (provided you meet the terms of your tenancy agreement)
- Deposit protection from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
- Knowing the identity of your landlord and letting agent
- Living in the property undisturbed, aside from scheduled visits with notice
- The right to see the property’s energy performance certificate (EPC), and except in very specific circumstances, should be rated a minimum of E.
- Protection from unfair rent and unfair eviction
- The right to have a written agreement if you have a fixed-term tenancy of more than 3 yrs
- Not having to have to pay certain fees when setting up a new tenancy, under the new tenant fees act.