Renting Homes: The Final Report - Law Commission

Secure contracts
3.19 Secure contracts are modelled on secure tenancies which currently can only be
created by local authorities. As with secure tenancies, secure contracts have a
high degree of security of tenure protected by the Bill. 50 They can be created only
on a periodic basis. 51 The reason for this is that in the context of the high security
of tenure granted by the Bill for a secure contract, having a fixed term would not
be useful. If a fixed term secure contract were to be followed on holding over (that
is where the contract-holder continues to live there after the expiry of the fixed
term) by a periodic secure contract, there would be little point having a fixed term
contract in the first place (especially when it would make it harder for the landlord
to vary the contract). If a fixed term secure contract were to be followed by
something less than a periodic secure contract, it would be significantly less
valuable to the contract-holder than a periodic secure contract. The idea of the
secure contract is to provide a security gold standard for use in the social sector.
To allow fixed term secure contracts would at best muddle the picture, and at
worst, undercut that objective.
Standard contracts
3.20 Standard contracts are modelled on the current assured shorthold tenancy
granted by private landlords. Although they have a low degree of security of
tenure protected by statute, there is nothing preventing landlords entering
contracts which have a greater degree of security than the Bill requires. Often this
happens because it is in the landlord’s interest to do so, for example to minimise
void letting periods. Standard contracts can be either fixed term or periodic. 52
3.21 In the case of standard contracts only, the Bill provides that a landlord is able to
specify periods where, notwithstanding the existence of the contract, the
premises cannot be used for occupation. 53 The purpose of this provision is to
enable, for example, universities to enter occupation contracts with their students
for the whole academic year, but also enable them to regain possession during
vacation periods when the accommodation is needed for conferences. It would
be a disproportionate administrative burden for there to be separate contracts for
each academic term or semester.
USE OF OCCUPATION CONTRACTS
3.22 Although our definition of contract types is landlord-neutral, the way in which the
contracts are to be used is not. In particular, the use of the two types of contract
by community landlords is carefully prescribed.
50 We discuss issues relating to security of tenure in Part 4.
51 Cl 3(1).
52 Cl 3(2).
53 Cls 3(3) and (4). See also cl 27(2)(c).
48