Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement

This agreement creates an assured shorthold tenancy agreement (AST) for a specific room in the property. The tenant is also given a right to use and access the communal parts of the property but the landlord retains control of the common parts and may access these areas as and when they need to.

Why choose a room only tenancy?

For landlords of houses in multiple occupation (HMO), it is often easier to rent out the property by the room, particularly where the tenants do not know each other. 

If you are renting out a property to three or more people, where at least two of the tenants are unrelated, then you will also need to comply with the HMO management regulations or risk significant penalties.

The best way of doing this is to have regular access to the property for inspections. Under a joint tenancy this may not be possible as the tenants have the right to refuse you access to the property. However, with a room-only agreement, you retain control over the common parts of the property meaning the tenants can only refuse you access to their individual rooms. This makes it significantly easier to perform inspections within the common parts of the property.

When should these tenancies not be used?

If you are keen to rent the property on a joint tenancy then you should use one of our ASTs designed for letting the whole property on one agreement. Typically, this will be used when you rent the property to families or a group of friends.

Both of these agreements create assured shorthold tenancies. On this page you’ll find HMO tenancy agreements, but you may also require a single tenancy agreement if you’re letting out the entire property to one family or close group.

As a general rule most agreements created in the private rented sector will be assured shorthold tenancy agreements, however there are a number of circumstances where an assured shorthold tenancy agreement cannot be created, such as letting to companies or renting out rooms within your own home.

If your tenancy cannot be an AST then these agreements will not be right for you. Instead, you should be using the correct alternative tenancy agreement.