Landlord showing tenants around before notice period starts

StudentMoneySaver · 16 March 2010 at 7:42PM

I'm having problems with my landlord and I was wondering if anyone can help.

I'm on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. Firstly, the Assured period was only 4 months. Is this actually legal? From what I have been reading the minimum seems to be 6 months. Is this law or just an industry standard for AST?

Secondly, they called saying they are raising the rent, this was on 4th March. I rejected the rent rise and they served 60 days noticed which, according to the contract and the notice letter they sent, starts on the 29th March. Over the last few days they have been showing people around the property (I have two tonight and one on Thursday), are they able to do this? As I understand it they should only start showing people around when the notice period starts? Am I correct?

I'm fed up of dealing with these people and want to get out ASAP. Hopefully one of the people viewing can take it before the end of March (so I don't have to pay another month of rent and stay until the end of April).

I want to get advice but all the advice lines close before I get the chance to call or are extremely busy.

Thanks for your help.

BitterAndTwisted · 16 March 2010 at 8:02PM

I don't understand why you think a notice-period might "start", As far as I know there is no such thing, just a minimum period of notice which is what it sounds like you've had.

Please be aware that you are under absolutely no obligation whatsoever to tolerate prospective new tenants viewing while you still are a tenant. Good sense tells us that it might be in your interest to appear to be co-operative but if you don't want any viewings you can decline them. Please also be aware that neither the landlord nor the letting agents have an absolute right to enter YOUR HOME when you are not present and you have not given your express consent. A lot of landlords and letting agents either don't know or don't care and might give you the impression that you must allow access. This is not true: look up "quiet enjoyment" for further information

scrummy_mummy_2 · 16 March 2010 at 8:06PM

An AST can be for any period of time...it is usually granted for periods in 'chunks' of 6 months....but 4 months is fine.
In order to increase your rent they need to serve you with the prescribed Notice that they intend to increase your rent, to which you can either agree or not...
If you do not agree to the rent increase then you must surrender the property at the end of your AST. To formalise this, (in addition ot the formal rent increase Notice) the LL needs to serve you with a correctly issued Section 21 notice which formally tells you that he wants possession of the dwelling once your AST expires. The S21 should give you 2 periods' notice to begin on a day your rent is due and to expire on the day before your rent is due in the second period, so if your rent is due 29th March, you must be out by 28th May.
During your tenancy the LL must get your permission to access the property to show prospective new tenants around, and should give you at least 24 hours notice. You are prefectly within your rights to refuse him/the viewers access during the Term of your tenancy as you have the right to quiet enjoyment of the home during your period....in practise, this is difficult because he needs to find a new tenant and might get tricky if you refuse him access...try to find a suitable compromise.
Interestlingly, he can only serve a valid Section 21 Notice, if your deposit has been protected within an approved scheme in accordance with the rules and he must get the dates right for it to stand up.
he must also provide a current EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) to prosepctive new tenants before they agree to rent the house....
As you OP suggests you just want shut, I suggest you just get it let as soon as possible and be as nice as you can to ensure you get all/most of your deposit back from the LL without too much of a fight....if you wanted to get stroppy there are all sorts of ways you could but it'll probably come back to bite you in the bum given that you just want out!

Just as a point of note, your dates don't sound right to me...if they are you would have signed your 4 months AST on 29th January and your AST would expire on 28th May....if they served you a S21 correctly on 29th March, they would require possession on 28th May...why do you say end April?

StudentMoneySaver · 16 March 2010 at 8:11PM

Thank you. It probably is in my interest to comply but its frustrating that they seem not to care that I actually live here. I imagine they're after the increased rent (£100 more pm), although I checked online and they only seem to be asking new tenants for £50 more than I pay.

The contract says that notice has to be served on the corresponding day minus one to the start of the contract (e.g. contract started on 30th Sept, so notice has to be issued on 29th of the month). They sent me a letter which complies with this, i.e. it says the notice period will start from the 29th March which means I cannot leave until 29th May.

StudentMoneySaver · 16 March 2010 at 8:17PM

scrummy_mummy wrote: »

An AST can be for any period of time...it is usually granted for periods in 'chunks' of 6 months....but 4 months is fine.
In order to increase your rent they need to serve you with the prescribed Notice that they intend to increase your rent, to which you can either agree or not...
If you do not agree to the rent increase then you must surrender the property at the end of your AST. To formalise this, (in addition ot the formal rent increase Notice) the LL needs to serve you with a correctly issued Section 21 notice which formally tells you that he wants possession of the dwelling once your AST expires. The S21 should give you 2 periods' notice to begin on a day your rent is due and to expire on the day before your rent is due in the second period, so if your rent is due 29th March, you must be out by 28th May.
During your tenancy the LL must get your permission to access the property to show prospective new tenants around, and should give you at least 24 hours notice. You are prefectly within your rights to refuse him/the viewers access during the Term of your tenancy as you have the right to quiet enjoyment of the home during your period....in practise, this is difficult because he needs to find a new tenant and might get tricky if you refuse him access...try to find a suitable compromise.
Interestlingly, he can only serve a valid Section 21 Notice, if your deposit has been protected within an approved scheme in accordance with the rules and he must get the dates right for it to stand up.
he must also provide a current EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) to prosepctive new tenants before they agree to rent the house....
As you OP suggests you just want shut, I suggest you just get it let as soon as possible and be as nice as you can to ensure you get all/most of your deposit back from the LL without too much of a fight....if you wanted to get stroppy there are all sorts of ways you could but it'll probably come back to bite you in the bum given that you just want out!

Just as a point of note, your dates don't sound right to me...if they are you would have signed your 4 months AST on 29th January and your AST would expire on 28th May....if they served you a S21 correctly on 29th March, they would require possession on 28th May...why do you say end April?

End of April because I'm not prepared to move mid way through the month I have just paid rent on. I know they won't give a pro rata refund so there's no point in me getting in that situation.

I signed on Sept 30th which would mean the Assured period ends on 30th Jan. I missed a bunch of their called during Feb (they never left a message so I ignored, as they did with me when I complained about issues with the building). I only answered their calls in the beginning of March (at this time I knew what they wanted from speaking to other tenants).

HappyMJ · 16 March 2010 at 8:19PM

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

Thank you. It probably is in my interest to comply but its frustrating that they seem not to care that I actually live here. I imagine they're after the increased rent (£100 more pm), although I checked online and they only seem to be asking new tenants for £50 more than I pay.

The contract says that notice has to be served on the corresponding day minus one to the start of the contract (e.g. contract started on 30th Sept, so notice has to be issued on 29th of the month). They sent me a letter which complies with this, i.e. it says the notice period will start from the 29th March which means I cannot leave until 29th May.

So what is the question? You have rejected the rent rise so can pay the old rent until the 29th May... You can offer the £50 as advertised and see what happens if you want to stay.

Or....If you really want to get out ASAP as in your OP then give 1 months notice before the 29th of this month to get out on the 29th April.

scrummy_mummy_2 · 16 March 2010 at 8:20PM

From the LL perspective, Notice should be given on 30th of a month to expire on 29th of the month 2 periods hence so they cannot request posession to be given until 29th May at the earliest.
Thus it would seem the S21 is invalid...if they indeed issued a S21....their dates are wrong...anyway...
...you can leave 'earlier' if they find a new tenant and agree to you leaving...but you (legally) must give them one full period's notice...give notice on 30th of a month to expire on 29th of the next month.
They and you could mutually agree an earlier release date by mutual consent though....so you could be released as soon as they can find a replacement tenant.
My advice, suck it up, play the game and see how quickly they will release you without penalty but accept you might be there until 29th April. You shouldn't have paid your rent on that month yet anyway...won't be due until 30th March????

Fire_Fox · 16 March 2010 at 8:22PM

You don't really need advice lines, there isn't anything complicated about your situation and we can point you in the right direction. If you wish to read articles explaining the legal position in plain English use the Shelter and Landlordzone websites.

Basically this is your home, legally and morally, until the end of the tenancy: you have the right to quiet enjoyment which means you can refuse ALL visits barring emergencies. In practice this isn't always a good idea, so we often suggest tenants write to the letting agent advising them that show rounds will be accommodated on x day(s) at x time(s) each week.

Please confirm that your damage deposit has been lodged in one of the three schemes.

StudentMoneySaver · 16 March 2010 at 8:22PM

I'm not sure if I can do that, the contract seems a bit asymmetrical. It says that I can't serve notice until 10 months and it has to be 60 days.

It seems my best bet is to hope someone takes it and wants to move in ASAP.

Fire_Fox · 16 March 2010 at 8:26PM

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

I'm not sure if I can do that, the contract seems a bit asymmetrical. It says that I can't serve notice until 10 months and it has to be 60 days.

It seems my best bet is to hope someone takes it and wants to move in ASAP.

I am pretty sure the minumum AST is six months, there is no such thing as a four month unless the tenancy is terminated by mutual agreement (always in writing). The law states tenants have to serve notice of one rental period (i.e. one month) , landlords serve two months. It doesn't seem fair (OFT fair rather than Fire Fox fair) that there is a break clause for the landlord and not the tenant - if it is a four month AST how can you not leave until month ten????

"Notice by Tenant
Where the tenancy has become a Statutory Periodic Tenancy (where the fixed-term has ended and no new agreement signed for another fixed-term) the tenant must give the landlord notice if he wants to leave:

The notice must be in writing
It must be delivered at least 4 weeks before the notice period ends or 1 month if rent is paid monthly
It must bring the tenancy to an end at the end of a full rent period.

The notice period must end at the end of a tenancy payment period: for example, if the rent payment date is on the 20th of each month, the notice period must end on the 20th of the month or the 19th to be on the safe side.
The tenancy agreement cannot change these basic rules, 4 weeks being the minimum notice period. However, if the tenancy period is more than 4 weeks, for example, one month, then the notice period is one month."

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/notice_to_quit.htm

StudentMoneySaver · 16 March 2010 at 8:28PM

The landlord didn't request a deposit, which I suppose should have rung alarm bells.

scrummy mummy - Sorry, I think I got the dates wrong. The notice says it is served from the 30th March and I have to be out by 12pm on 29th May.

Landlord showing tenants around before notice period starts

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