Updating post from Reddit.

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TENANT
Posted by BeneficialAd2931 3 weeks ago
Witness for tenancy

Hi, all

I am about to sign a tenancy agreement from a private landlord. There is 3 places for witness. 2 tenants and 1 for landlord. Do we need three separate witness or 1 can witness for all 3 of us. Towards the end it says WITNESS WHEREOF….

Witness :
Address : landlord sign

Witness.
Adresss: :Mr tenant sign

Witness.
Address : :Mrs Tenant sign .

My landlord is travelling down to do this agreement and he doesn’t have any one , who can come to be his witness either.

I hardly know anyone who can be my other witness too . My cousin is coming down to sign for me.

I am bit worried I really need this house to move .

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Posted by ralaman 3 weeks ago

It is not mandatory to have Witnesses for these tenancy agreements. Good luck!

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Posted by Apprehensive-Web3355 3 weeks ago

You can all have the same witness

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Posted by Ok_Manager_1763 3 weeks ago

Unless the contract (or part of it) is being signed as a deed (for example if you have a separate guarantor agreement) no witness is legally necessary. If you feel that bothered just go ask a neighbour for 5 mins of their time to witness the signatures  - the benefit of that is that you know where they live.

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Posted by BeneficialAd2931 3 weeks ago

It is an assured short hold tenancy .

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Posted by Historical-Hand-3908 3 weeks ago

Perhaps not mandatory but certainly a protection.

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Posted by ratscabs 3 weeks ago

What protection? Against what by whom?

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Posted by Historical-Hand-3908 3 weeks ago

Perhaps you need to work out what a witness is for, then you'll be able to answer your own question.

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Posted by ratscabs 3 weeks ago

I know exactly what a witness is for, but you clearly don’t, or you’d be aware that they are not required for an AST.

Hence the question.

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Posted by Historical-Hand-3908 3 weeks ago

I made no reference to AST's. My comment was on the general 'principle' of a witnessed document whether a requirement or not. Do your thinking on Tuesdays not Mondays, and a little broader.

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Posted by ratscabs 3 weeks ago

The clue is in the title of the thread, twat.

And even the specific one you responded to. And the simple fact is that on the AST in question, nobody gains any ‘protection’ from the use of a witness .

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Posted by Historical-Hand-3908 3 weeks ago

Protection or safeguarding from fraud. You make a strange pointless arguement which indicates you're not a professional, and you're making yourself look stupid.

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Posted by Historical-Hand-3908 3 weeks ago

Guidance for you.

Ref: law copybook

"Witnesses We recommend that you and your tenant each sign the AST in the presence of a witness. It underlines the seriousness of signing a legal document and can also be useful in case of any disputes. However, it is not a legal requirement."

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Posted by uklandlords-ModTeam 3 weeks ago

Please Keep it Civil

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Posted by Historical-Hand-3908 3 weeks ago

I made no reference to AST's. My comment was on the general 'principle' of a witnessed document whether a requirement or not. Do your thinking on Tuesdays not Mondays, and a little broader.

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Posted by ratscabs 3 weeks ago

What this guy said.

There’s absolutely no requirement for a witness to a signature on an assured shorthold tenancy agreement to make it legally valid (assuming that indeed is what the document is). Probably just been added by a landlord with no legal expertise, to make it sound ‘important’.

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Posted by Buxux 3 weeks ago

My letting agent signed the witness for me as well I just asked them to be the witness

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