Q. I let a tenant in without getting her to sign a tenancy agreement first. She now says she has no tenancy and can move out when she likes. Is this true?

A. She does have a tenancy. You dont need a tenancy agreement to create a tenancy, it will be created automatically once the tenant moves into the property and starts paying rent. If there is no agreed fixed term then the tenancy will be a periodic one - the period depending on how rent is paid.

So if rent is paid monthly it will be a monthly periodic tenancy, if it is paid weekly it will be weekly periodic tenancy etc.

The tenant can leave but should give a minimum of one month/four weeks notice ending at the end of a period of the tenancy.