Rent payments

Trebor01 wrote: »

If a tenant stays in a property after the agreed rental period according to the date set within the tenancy agreement, (in this case 1.5 weeks) how much can they be charged legally ?

Trebor01 wrote: »

Is the property in England/Wales? England
Is the T an individual, as opposed to a company? Yes
What date did the term commence (dd/mm/yy) and how was the length of term expressed in the contract? Start date irrelevant, but contract date was for 6 months
What does the contract say about the rate of rent/when payable etc? Was paid for 6 months upfront
Has the T remained in occupation after fixed term expiry? Yes as mentioned in the question 1.5 weeks !!
Does either the LL or the T wish to end the tenancy; has either served notice? Yes the LL has served notice.

You haven't really answered my question (in bold above), but going by what you've told me, if the contract states that rent is payable every six months, then the periods of the periodic tenancy will be six monthly.*

A LL's s.21 notice, if served after the fixed term expires and the tenancy has become a statutory periodic AST, must give at least two months and also expire at the end of a tenancy period. A T's NTQ must give LL at least one month and must also expire at the end of a tenancy period.

However, LL's s.21 notice doesn't end the tenancy when it expires, so LL serving notice doesn't dictate T's liability. A T's NTQ does end the tenancy at notice expiry, but if T fails to give NTQ then the tenancy will continue until either LL obtains a possession order or a surrender is agreed between T/LL.

So, back to the original question; if rent is payable under the terms of the contract every six months, then the minimum period that the T is liable for, assuming he gives NTQ after the tenancy becomes periodic, would be six months as from the day after the fixed term expired.

*If the contract states that rent is payable monthly or a different frequency, and T just volunteered to pay six months up front, then it's a different scenario.

If the tenant stayed one day, never mind one and a half weeks past the end of the fixed-term then the landlord would be entitled to charge the tenant one full month's rent.