A rolling tenancy is a popular solution to avoid the stress of having to sign up for a new tenancy agreement every time your fixed term ends.
An assured shorthold tenancy agreement (also known as an AST) allows a landlord to let a property to a tenant. The term of an assured shorthold tenancy agreement is usually 6 or 12 months and will usually convert to a rolling periodic tenancy at the end of the initial term.
A rolling tenancy is a tenancy which automatically renews periodically on a rolling basis until either the tenant or the landlord serves notice. The renewal period will depend on the payment frequency of the rent. For example, a tenancy where rent is paid monthly will renew on a monthly basis. A tenancy where rent is paid every 6 or 12 months will renew for 6 or 12 months respectively.
Whilst a landlord can't ban pets from a property, they have no obligation to accept pets. A landlord can't increase the deposit beyond the 5 week's worth of rent cap but can increase the rent and therefore deposit in exchange for accepting a pet.
A rolling tenancy is common in tenancy agreements as it can give confidence and certainty to both the landlord and tenant after the initial term that the property can be occupied and rent will be paid. However, if the landlord wants to recuperate the property at the end of the initial term, they should make sure that the tenancy agreement does not automatically convert to a rolling periodic tenancy and serve a notice before the end of the fixed term to recuperate it. This is often the case for private landlords who let out properties to student tenants for 12 month fixed terms at a time.
Legislate's assured shorthold tenancy agreement can be easily tailored to permit pets. Appropriate wording will be included to specify which pet is permitted to live in the property with the tenant.