Assured shorthold tenancy — 12 months
Example document, England · 3 findings
Specimen — not a real report
- Charge that looks banned
Clause 4.2 — Charges on vacating
Clause extract“The Tenant shall pay a check-out administration fee of £150 on vacating the Property.”
What the law says
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 sets out the short list of payments a landlord or agent in England is allowed to require — rent, a capped deposit, a holding deposit, utilities and council tax, and a few named default charges. A check-out administration fee is not on that list.
Source: Tenant Fees Act 2019, permitted payments
The question to ask
“Which permitted payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 is this £150, and if it isn't one, will you take the clause out before I sign?”
- Clause that may not hold up
Clause 9.1 — Deposit deductions
Clause extract“The Landlord may deduct from the deposit any sums the Landlord considers reasonable.”
What the law says
A deposit for an assured shorthold tenancy has to sit in a government-approved protection scheme, and a disputed deduction is decided by that scheme's free adjudication service — not by the landlord alone. A clause written as though the landlord decides may not survive that process.
Source: Deposit protection rules, Housing Act 2004
The question to ask
“Can this be reworded to say deductions are for evidenced loss and that a dispute goes to the protection scheme's adjudication service?”
- Missing detail
Clause 9.3 — Deposit protection
Clause extract“The deposit will be protected with an approved scheme within ____ days.”
What the law says
The number is blank and the scheme is unnamed. In England the deposit must be protected within 30 days of being received, and the prescribed information about where it is held has to be given to the tenant in the same window.
Source: Deposit protection rules, Housing Act 2004
The question to ask
“Which of the three approved schemes will hold it, and can we write 30 days into the blank?”