Assured Tenancy - Non-assured (or Assured Shorthold) Tenancies

Non-assured (or Assured Shorthold) Tenancies

Tenancies entered into before the commencement of the 1988 Act on 15 January 1989

An exception to this are assured tenancies which are converted from being regulated by the Housing Act 1980 (except if granted by approved bodies under ss56-68 of the Housing Act 1980 before 15 January 1989, and before that date the tenant made an application to the court under section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (for the grant of a new tenancy), and on 15 January 1989 the 1980 Act tenancy is continuing by virtue of that section or of any provision of Part IV of the said Act of 1954.)

Tenancies not of a separate dwelling house

This counter-intuitive term, dwelling house, applies to exclude only businesses and highly indistinct subdivisions of houses or flats such as where shared and no particular set of joint tenants can be said to be entitled to the whole; flats and single rooms are included within the definition of a separate dwelling house as are converted barns, windmills etc.

High value properties

Because domestic rates were ablished a distinction exists between tenancies granted before 1 April 1990 and those from that date. Before this a dwelling house (see above) tenancy with a with a rateable value of £750 (£1500 in Greater London) (payable per year) cannot be an assured tenancy. From this date if the rent is more than £100,000 per year (£8333.33 per month) it cannot be an assured tenancy.

Tenancies at a low rent

Similar for those tenancies before that date, if rent is less than two thirds of the rateable value, or if after that date it does not exceed £250 per year (£1000 per year in Greater London) it cannot be an assured tenancy.

Tenancies for agriculture, agricultural holdings, persons with Temporary Protection, under arrangements made for asylum seekers and their dependents, and family intervention tenancies

These detailed areas include a tenancy under which agricultural land, exceeding two acres, is let together with the dwelling-house.

Business tenancies

To be exact this excludes tenancies to which part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 applies. Tenancies eligble to be protected business tenancies (contracted out business tenancies) or partly let for business use are ineligible to be assured tenancies.

Educational body lettings to students

This does not apply to tenancies involving landlords other than the specified universities and colleges.

Holiday Lettings

A letting for this purpose cannot be assured.

By live-in landlords

This applies where the landlord lives in another part of the same building in which the let accommodation is situated.

Crown, Local Authority and Housing Association Leetings

Although these are excluded, lettings by local authorities and housing association may have other protections, such as as secure tenants under the Housing Act 1985

In occupation as the principal home of the tenant

It is possible for a person to have more than one "home" in which case it is a legal question of fact as to whether a home is the principal home. Although this provision stipulates "occupation" this need not be continuous, if a mere temporary absence this will still be capable of being an assured tenancy.

If and so long as

Whether a tenancy is assured can vary depending on circumstances after the tenancy commencement. It may be that the tenant has not by eviction ceased to live in a tenancy in which case they are no longer occupying the dwelling as their principal home. Here the tenant thus loses security of tenure.