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When everyone has a home

Housing advice for Northern Ireland

Unfair term

You need to know whether you are going to be a tenant who will be protected in law or a licensee who has very few rights in law. It's important that you understand your legal status in your new home.

In an emergency, you can enter the rented property to secure it or make it safe for others. However, you cannot usually enter the property without the prior consent of your tenants.

Your tenancy agreement can give you additional rights, beyond those afforded to you in legislation. When drawing up a tenancy agreement, remember that any terms which are seen to be unfair are unenforceable.

You are not required to serve a Notice to Quit to bring a fixed term agreement to an end, but you should write to your tenants to find out whether they intend to stay in the property or move on. Finding out your existing tenants' intentions will help minimise the risk of void months, where no rent is paid.

Once you sign a tenancy agreement, you will usually be expected to keep to the conditions of the agreement until it ends. It's important that you check a few things out before you sign and don't let yourself be rushed into anything.

There are a few important pieces of paperwork that you'll need to keep safe once you become a tenant. You will usually be asked to sign a tenancy agreement, but this is not always the case. If you do sign a tenancy agreement, make sure you get a signed copy.

It's important to be aware of your responsibilities to your landlord. While many of these responsibilities will be explained in your tenancy agreement, there are also certain responsibilities which are outlined in law.

Your landlord does not have to give you a tenancy agreement. But, it's a good idea to have one of these. It means both you and the landlord know your rights and responsibilities. A tenancy agreement is a legal contract. It is very difficult to get out of a tenancy agreement before its end date. 

Any term in a tenancy agreement has to be fair. 

An unfair term is not enforceable. This means you do not have to stick to it and the landlord cannot use it to take legal action against you. 

Make sure to read your tenancy agreement. Only sign it if you understand all the terms and you are happy to agree with these. You can ask to change the terms in the contract if you don't agree with them. Don't sign the contract until you are happy with it.

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