Rental contracts: comprehensive guide to rental and lease agreements

There are two types of standard lease agreement: 

• Principal residence lease:
  the tenant uses the rental property as their principal residence 
• Common law lease:
  the tenant does not use the rental property as their principal residence 

There are two key elements to a safe shared tenancy: 

• The shared tenancy lease between the landlord and the tenants stipulates that the tenants are jointly and severally liable to the landlord, but also sets out specific, highly flexible terms for when a tenant decides to leave. The parties must agree to apply this arrangement. 
• For the tenants, this agreement takes the form of a shared tenancy pact setting out the practical details of living together. This pact does not apply to the landlord. 
  The pact must include the following information: 
• the method for dividing rent among the tenants; 
• the allocation of responsibility for tenant-caused damages and how these are charged against the rental guarantee, particularly if the damages can be attributed to one or more identifiable tenants within the group; 
• the handling of maintenance and repair costs; 
• the division of communal living responsibilities (for example, cleaning, taking out the rubbish, collecting the post, timetables); 
• an inventory of furniture and its origin; 
• matters relating to the rental guarantee and insurance cover, including fire insurance (taken out in the name of one or more tenants or through an internal kitty); 
• procedures for the arrival, departure and replacement of a tenant.  

There are two standard models for shared tenancy leases: 

• Principal residence shared tenancy lease:
  The tenants sign the shared tenancy pact to apply the legal framework specific to shared housing. 
  One of the tenants uses the rental property as their principal residence. 
• Common law shared tenancy lease:
  The tenants sign the shared tenancy pact to apply the legal framework specific to shared housing. 
  The property is not used as a principal residence. 

Student leases are concluded for a maximum of 12 months and can be renewed under the same rental conditions for one-year periods. The student can terminate the lease at any time, with a two-month notice period and without penalty. However, the landlord can only terminate the lease at the end of the term, with a three-month notice period. 

To sign this type of lease, the student must provide proof of their student status with proof of enrolment or an enrolment application. 

The decision to sign a student lease must be made by mutual agreement between the landlord and the tenant.  They can always choose a standard lease instead. 

There are two standard models for student leases: 

• Principal residence student lease: 
  The student designates the rental property as their principal residence 
• Common law student lease: 
  The property is not used as a principal residence. 

A sliding lease is a principal residence lease between a landlord and a legal entity that appears on a list established by the Government Opens in new windowspecifying which legal entities are authorised to use this mechanism. 
This legal entity then enters into a subletting agreement with an individual who is receiving social support. 

The explanatory appendix provides information to both the tenant and the landlord about important aspects of the Housing Code related to leases, including basic requirements for safety, sanitation and facilities, mandatory and supplementary rules, the form of lease, lease registration, lease duration, etc. 

This appendix must be attached to the lease agreement.