Custom Clauses For Assured Shorthold Tenancy?

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 14/05/2024 - 10:59
It was several years ago, the rent was £200 per four weeks, the council paid £160 in housing benefit and I collected £10 per week in cash from the tenant.

Why did you make the erroneous assumption that I was collecting more than the contractual rent?

Reply to the comment left by Neilt at 14/05/2024 - 10:27
Why not guinea pigs?

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 14/05/2024 - 10:54
The big worry now is electric scooters and bikes, where cheap Chinese batteries are catching fire. I would like to include a clause that states no electric vehicles e.g. scooters and cycles to be stored on the premises.

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 14/05/2024 - 11:14
Decades ago when I was a student I knew a girl who kept baby crocodiles in her bath as part of her PhD research. She fed them on chicken heads.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 14/05/2024 - 11:10
I didn't know, which is why I mentioned that I was not aware of the situation as it was then.

Thankfully what occurred was not as per my example, it's just that your original post was not entirely clear as to what happened. Thank you for clearing that up.

Mark, your suggested clauses are almost certainly unenforceable and highlight the dangers of self-drafting by those not legally trained.

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 14/05/2024 - 11:22
Agreed with you there, I have the same concerns myself.

Something that may could be to stipulate something like "Rechargable batteries and devices rated over 100Wh are not to be charged in the premises"

That would allow all laptops and mobile phones current on the market, but disallow the batteries for Ebikes, scooters and any other form of electronic transport that is likely to come out in the future.

Of course I am not a lawyer so I would get professional advice if you wanted to do this. But it does feel like the right kind of wording that would allow you to do what you want to do.

You can put all sorts of stipulations into a rental agreement but ultimately a court will decide if they are fair or not. On the question of rechargeable scooters etc. How long will it be before insurance companies make it a policy condition that items that exceed a certain battery capacity cannot be charged inside (and what about electric cars charged in integral garages?). Maybe we should all read the small print on our policies in case it is in there already?
Insurance companies are keen to take premiums but move heaven and earth not to pay out. Could a tenant’s scooter burning your house down result in no insurance pay out because the policy forbids charging inside?
The fact that you had made a stipulation in the rental agreement would offer you no protection. You could sue the tenant possibly, but good luck with that, you can’t squeeze blood out of a stone, they will just walk away or vanish into thin air as they so often do in the case of property damage.

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 14/05/2024 - 10:54
It follows on to mean scooters and the like...

Reply to the comment left by northern landlord at 14/05/2024 - 11:58
If the tenant has contents insurance [which should be a stipulation in the AST] would it pay out for fire damage, or is that down to the landlord's Buildings cover [and subsequent increase in premium!]?