Annex to a rental agreement

Published byDocMuse

When the rent, the term or the occupants change, the lease is not signed again — an annex is signed instead. It names the agreement it amends, states exactly what changes and from which date, and confirms that the remaining clauses stay in force. Without such a document the change rests on nothing but what the parties say it was, and paying a different amount does not prove an agreement to it.

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Common questions

Why not just sign a whole new lease?

You can, but a new lease starts a new term and wipes out the history of the old one, including the date from which rights have been running. An annex keeps the original agreement and changes only what the parties decided to change.

Can the rent be raised by annex alone?

It can, but only if the tenant signs it. An annex is a two-sided document; a one-sided notice of a new figure is a proposal, not a change. Without a signature the old rent stays in force until the end of the term.

What happens to the deposit when the rent changes?

It does not change automatically. If the parties want the deposit to follow the new rent, that is written into the annex expressly — otherwise it stays at the sum paid when the lease was signed.

Does the annex have to be in the same form as the lease?

Yes. An amendment is made in the same form as the contract itself — in writing and signed by both parties, in as many counterparts as there are parties. A spoken arrangement on top of a written contract cannot be proved.