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Landlord pressuring to sign for another 12 months
Comments
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How did the agent indicate the "out of the property" part, did they serve a S21?Hello,
I start to think we may have the same EA. Anyway... I had the same problem, I received the same letter from my EA which was asking for a new contract with a fee for £120 or out of the property. I called Shelter and I'm told that if you live in England:
1) After the AST ends you are going to periodic
2) No matter what the contract says, if you are on a periodic then the notice is only one month
3) No one can force you to sign a new contract
4) Regardless contract or periodic you still have 2 months notice from the day you received a S21
5) If you prefer, you could leave on the day your contract expires, without having to give any notice (just handle the keys in).
Regards,
giruzz
Some agents send the S21, with the notice period to co-incide with the end of the fixed term, along with an offer to renew as a matter of routine. This S21 is not cancelled by a periodic tenancy so unless it is not valid for some reason your right to two months notice is over once you are on a periodic tenancy.
I would say that any written offer to renew sent with the S21 renders the S21 void as there is a conflict between the two actions, but some disagree with me.
If the LL/agent agrees to you staying on a periodic tenancy and you wish to be sure of getting notice should for any reason your landlord wish you to leave in the future, then I'd request the LL/agent drop you a note to confirm that they are happy for you to stay on a periodic tenancy and that they will not action this S21 but serve a new one if they want you to go in future.
Of course if you sign up to a new fixed term then the old S21 is no longer enforceable anyway.
(The routine serving of S21s to tenants who the LL doesn't as yet want to leave when the notice period is up is nicknamed the Sword of Damocles).0 -
Weve just had this... Our useless bunch of letting agents have sent us a letter in month 3 of a 6 month saying that we have 3 options
1) renew for another 6 or 12 months
2) move out
3) find a new property with said LA
they gave us 7 days to inform them of our choice for an AST which is due up on 16 October
We emailed them back saying we want invisible option 4) stay on a periodic
we did get a s21 from them when we signed the TA but its invalid as we got it before they even had the deposit from us and before we signed the TA
Our landlady has agreed with us they are useless and blew and almightly strop at them when she found out they hadnt told her about the knackered fridge freezer almost 2 weeks after we had informed them and they hadnt done anything about0 -
We had this exact same thing in December when our AST came to an end. We had already decided we were going to buy, so when they asked us to sign a new 12 month tenancy we flatly refused, despite the pressure they tried to put on us. The number of properties the LA had empty was a clear indication that they would not risk giving us notice and having a void (although if they had served us notice, I don't think we would have cried! The place and the landlord were abysmal!).
In the end they agreed to put us on to a rolling contract as asked, although they did act like it was a MASSIVE favour and stick all kinds of fees on to it. We bought our house, and moved out at the beginning of July.
Stick to your guns. As long as you pay your rent on time and keep the property in order, you are a good tenant. It is not your responsibility to put your life on hold so your landlord never has to experience a void. They chose to play the rental market, they took the risk - not you. You (like us) decided to bide your time and wait until prices had dropped before making a huge investment. I don't feel even a tiny bit of sympathy for BTL landlords who thought they could make a quick buck and are now struggling with negative equity and the like!0 -
Agree - just refuse to sign another contract.
They'd have to be really stupid to chuck you out in those circumstances, given you've been such a great tenant and you're paying over the odds too.
If they insist on it, show them/the agent other properties in your area renting for substantially less, and point out they would be unlikely to get anyone else to pay that amount if you left.
Good luck.0 -
superfran_uk wrote: »
In the end they agreed to put us on to a rolling contract as asked, although they did act like it was a MASSIVE favour and stick all kinds of fees on to it.
Fees?!! You shouldn't be charged any fees to go onto a rolling contract.0 -
How did the agent indicate the "out of the property" part, did they serve a S21?
Some agents send the S21, with the notice period to co-incide with the end of the fixed term, along with an offer to renew as a matter of routine. This S21 is not cancelled by a periodic tenancy so unless it is not valid for some reason your right to two months notice is over once you are on a periodic tenancy.
I would say that any written offer to renew sent with the S21 renders the S21 void as there is a conflict between the two actions, but some disagree with me.
If the LL/agent agrees to you staying on a periodic tenancy and you wish to be sure of getting notice should for any reason your landlord wish you to leave in the future, then I'd request the LL/agent drop you a note to confirm that they are happy for you to stay on a periodic tenancy and that they will not action this S21 but serve a new one if they want you to go in future.
Of course if you sign up to a new fixed term then the old S21 is no longer enforceable anyway.
(The routine serving of S21s to tenants who the LL doesn't as yet want to leave when the notice period is up is nicknamed the Sword of Damocles).
Hi,
Apologies for being unclear..we never received a S21. We only received a letter from the EA two months prior the contract's expiry.
The letter was pre-complied and had just two boxes:
1) Renew the contract for 12 months (121GBP)
2) Leave the flat at the end of the contract.
We were asked to sign the form, choose one of the two options and mail back the form. I rang the landlord and asked to stay on rolling contract or get a discount if we had signed for 12 months. The landlord say 'forget about it' so this morning I'm about to go and see a couple of properties that are about 16/20% cheaper than what we've got now.
Kind Regards,
giruzz0 -
you will need to get your timing very right here - now thatyou are in periodid your notice to leave will have to end on the final day of your rent period - if it does not the LA/LL may be legally entitled to claim a full months additoinal rent if you stay even one day over the rental period.0
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you will need to get your timing very right here - now thatyou are in periodid your notice to leave will have to end on the final day of your rent period - if it does not the LA/LL may be legally entitled to claim a full months additoinal rent if you stay even one day over the rental period.
Oh yes! Shelter said exactly the same...we have another 3 weeks to go so it should be enough.
regards
giruzz0 -
At the end of 12 months you could have moved out but didn't. Your tenancy is now periodic. You need to give one month's notice to leave (to end on a rent day). Your LL needs to give two notice to quit (also to end on a rent day).
You can decline the offer of a new contract. If you do so, your LL can serve notice to quit (2 months). Or he may not bother. Or he may decide that the lack of a 12 months contract increaes his costs (e.g., risk of you leaving in December when it would be more difficult to find a new tenant).
Letting Agents don't like periodic tenancies because they generate less cash. Maybe your LL is being poorly advised by them.
If I didn't want to sign a new 12 months tenancy, I wouldn't. However, I would be prepared for the LL to issue a notice to quit at a time convenient to him.
GGThere are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those that don't.0 -
Gorgeous_George wrote: »At the end of 12 months you could have moved out but didn't. Your tenancy is now periodic. You need to give one month's notice to leave (to end on a rent day). Your LL needs to give two notice to quit (also to end on a rent day).
You can decline the offer of a new contract. If you do so, your LL can serve notice to quit (2 months). Or he may not bother. Or he may decide that the lack of a 12 months contract increaes his costs (e.g., risk of you leaving in December when it would be more difficult to find a new tenant).
Letting Agents don't like periodic tenancies because they generate less cash. Maybe your LL is being poorly advised by them.
If I didn't want to sign a new 12 months tenancy, I wouldn't. However, I would be prepared for the LL to issue a notice to quit at a time convenient to him.
GG
Are you referring to me? I'm still in my 12 months contract which will expire in 3 weeks a per post above. I can leave any time I want within 3 weeks..
All the landlord said was 'if you leave we don't care as we want to sell the property'...but so far no S21. I'm looking around and if I found anything interesting within 3 weeks I'll move otherwise I'll stay.
g.0
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