During the Tenancy 

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The following information, therefore, applies to England and Wales only.

• Tenancy agreements - A written tenancy agreement is not a legal requirement, but you are advised to have a written document setting out what you have agreed with your tenant. 
    
  Written tenancy agreements will differ, depending not just on the type and duration of the tenancy but also on whether you are letting shared accommodation or an entire property. 
    
• Parking space and garage rental agreement - Parking spaces and garages may be included in a tenancy agreement or you may want to put separate letting agreements in place. 
    
• Inventory - An inventory list will help you keep track of what you provided to your tenant at the start of the tenancy and its condition - a useful document when the tenancy comes to an end.
     
• Notice to Quit - A Notice to Quit can be used by the landlord to ask a tenant to move out by a set date if a tenancy period has not been fixed. 
   
• Notice Requiring Possession - Where an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement is in place, the landlord can issue a Notice Requiring Possession to ask a tenant to move out by a set date. 
    
• Section 21 Notice - The landlord can subsequently issue a Section 21 Notice on or after the deadline date to end a fixed term tenancy. This is a Possession Notice served on the tenant with a minimum notice period of two months.
     
• Section 8 Notice - If you consider that your tenant has breached the terms of the fixed term tenancy agreement, the Housing Act 1988 allows you to use a Section 8 Notice to end the tenancy during the fixed term. 
    
  The Notice informs your tenant that you plan to take possession of your property and provides the reason(s) for doing so. Examples of such a breach could include a failure to pay the rent.
    
  A Section 8 Notice is an essential step in the eviction procedure. Without it, you cannot apply to the Court to issue an Order of Possession.
     
• Deed of Assignment - A Deed of Assignment is a document that your tenants can ask you to agree to if they plan to move out and would like to pass the tenancy over to a replacement, such as colleagues, friends or relatives, before the end of the tenancy period.
    
  Of course, you will need to give your consent before any new tenant can take over. As the landlord, you could include a clause in your tenancy agreement stating whether or not a Deed of Assignment is allowed. The Deed, once in place, becomes supplementary to the tenancy agreement.
    
• Section 25 Notice - Commercial tenancy documents include a Section 25 Notice, which gives the tenant the right to renew the tenancy when the existing tenancy agreement comes to an end. 
    
  As the landlord, you can oppose renewal of the tenancy through the Court if you consider the tenant to have been in breach of the agreement or want to start using the property yourself again.
   
  There are two types of Section 25 Notices, one in which the landlord proposes renewal of the rental agreement and another in which the landlord opposes it. Both should be issued to the commercial tenant with 6-12 months notice until the end of the tenancy period.
    
• Section 26 Notice - A Section 26 Notice is essentially a similar notice issued by the tenant, asking the landlord for renewal of the tenancy and setting out proposals for terms and conditions.

Further information on landlord record keeping is available elsewhere on the Smartlandlord^® site.

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