HMO - Can I still give out bare contractual tenancies?

[confused_landlord]

I own a house of multiple occupation. According to the Govt website, I was advised if the combined rent of all the occupants totalled more than £25,000 then I would not be able to give out 'assured shorthold tenancies' only 'bare contractual tenancies' whereby tenants are easier to evict if they are causing distress to other housemates and also deposits would not have to be put into the tenancy deposit scheme.

I was advised this situation has now changed, and I was wondering if anyone out there has any more news on wether or not I can still give out bare contractual tenancies.

[westminster]

The current threshold for an AST is £25,000 per annum. It will rise to £100,000 on 1st October.

This threshold applies to a single contract, not to the combined rents of several individual contracts in an HMO.

So, if your tenants each have individual contracts for their rooms, and the individual tenant's rent is less than the AST threshold, the tenancy must be an AST and cannot be a bare contractual tenancy.

If, on the other hand, all your tenants are named/listed on a single joint contract, and the rent is more than £25,000, then it would currently be a bare contractual tenancy - but on 1st October it would become an AST.

[kayak]

Just to confirm, I believe this only applied to England?

From ARLA (7th Sep)

Q. Will the change apply to Wales?

A. No, the change only applies to England. The Welsh Assembly Government is considering its position as part of its wider work on the private rented sector.

(Slightly out of context I realise!)

From Painsmith (I think)

All of these problems will not doubt need to be worked out by the Courts.
It should be noted that the change is being carried out in England only. It is not certain what the Welsh Assembly will choose to do. They have an ongoing consultation on the private rented sector which discusses a similar threshold change but this does not end until 14 May so they will, presumably not act until at least that date. However, the pressure to act in Wales is somewhat lower as rents there do not tend to reach the levels found in some parts of England.

[jeffrey]

The current threshold for an AST is £25,000 per annum. It will rise to £100,000 on 1st October.

This threshold applies to a single contract, not to the combined rents of several individual contracts in an HMO.

So, if your tenants each have individual contracts for their rooms, and the individual tenant's rent is less than the AST threshold, the tenancy must be an AST and cannot be a bare contractual tenancy.

If, on the other hand, all your tenants are named/listed on a single joint contract, and the rent is more than £25,000, then it would currently be a bare contractual tenancy - but on 1st October it would become an AST.
Yes. Always remember too that it's the annualised rent figure that counts. So a six-month let at £2500 p.m. yields only £15 000- but the annualised rent of £30 000 exceeds the current £25 000 trigger and therefore takes it outside the 1988 Act (until the trigger changes on 1 October).