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How much notice does a Landlord need to give to tenant to vacate?

I'm so sorry if this has been posted before. I just can't seem to think straight to even search for the answer. My landlord has given me one month's notice to find somewhere else. My tenancy should have been renewed at the end of this month but due to my landlord's personal circumstances they have chosen not to renew the tenancy and said I have 4 weeks to find somewhere. I asked if my landlord could bear with me as it isn't as simple as that. I am a single mum of 2 young children etc etc. I am gutted. Is it right that I only have a month to find somewhere?

Can anyone help please? Thanks in advance.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing
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Comments

  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    If you pay monthly, your LL always has to give you two full calendar month's notice, to end the day before a rent day. (and it cannot be before the end of your fixed term) So if you pay on 1st of each month, & he told you today the earliest he can ask you to leave is 30th November.

    Unless he already served a section 21 notice at or near the beginning of the tenancy. However, it doesn't sound like this is the case if your AST is due for renewal at the end of the month, & he wants you to move out two weeks into October.
  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    OP - I'm not feeling well, but what I said is about right. Just the words aren't right in my head IYKWIM!

    Wait for someone with full wellness to reply fully (I'm only hanging round here for an answer about a cinema card question, before I go there tomorrow morning)

    If you want longer in your current place, don't tell the LL just yet that his notice is invalid. Leave it as long as possible, to give yourself a bit more time. Even once served properly, you do not have to move out, but he can then apply to the courts for possession. Depends on how much you want a good reference.....
  • LL has to serve notice covering two full rental periods. Usually, a rental period starts on the day the rent is paid - but check the contract. He can serve the notice anytime, but it must cover two full rental periods. (Calendar months don't enter in to it).

    OP needs to post the rental period stated in the AST; the start date and the fixed period.

    As you rightly point out, Sooz, OP also needs to check to see if a s21 notice was issued at the beginning of the tenancy.
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
  • If relevant (depending on when you became a tenant and if you paid a desposit) you might want to check that any deposit you paid has been paid into a scheme and that you have got the prescribed information. sec 21's can't be used until the deposit is protected and you have received the prescibed info.

    Landlords who don't know one bit of Landlord and Tenant Law often don't know other bits.
  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    Thanks DFC - I meant calendar rental months (like pcm) but couldn't remember the term.

    Can't wait for this baby to be born, then I can go back to taking proper medicines when ill. Paracetamol just doesn't cut it.
  • Gareth83
    Gareth83 Posts: 971 Forumite
    Is 2 rental months the norm then?

    A friend has lived in the same rented property for 14yrs and now the LL has given them 1 month to move out

    Where do they stand?
  • princeofpounds
    princeofpounds Posts: 10,396
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    edited 3 January 2010 at 2:30PM
    OK, as your tenancy has not been renewed, I am assuming you are on a statutory AST. This is an AST letting contract which has run beyond its fixed term, and as a result has moved to the basis set out in law (statute).

    You may not have a statutory AST if the rent is over £25k a year, or if the tenancy has been in existence a very long time. Your fixed term may not have run out, but from what you said about renewals not happening, it appears that it has.

    A statutory tenancy contains all the provisions in the original AST, but 'rolls' from month to month. A landlord must give a tenant 2 months notice to leave, to coincide with a monthly rental period, whereas tenants must give one month's notice to leave, also to coincide with a rental period.. The information given above is broadly correct but not pedantically accurate.

    You can ONLY be evicted by a court order, so if you find yourself without accommodation on the day you are meant to move out do not worry - it is the landlord's problem and you do not need to surrender the property.

    A landlord can only get a court order by first issuing a proper notice to end the tenancy. In your case, this is likely to be a Section 21 notice, which basically says 'tenancy over as fixed term has gone and I want the property back'. Please check in your documents to see if you were served with one at the start of your tenancy - (search for 'sword of damocles'). If you have not been served with one yet, legally the landlord has not even started to ask you to leave. That's not to say you shouldn't leave if asked (with your minimum legal notice) but to point out again that you won't be homeless or rushed.

    The notice must be in the correct format, with the correct dates, to be valid. If your deposit fals under the protection legislation but was not protected, it is also not valid.

    If you have been served with one, then you have already been given your two months notice, but with the tenancy rolling over it would be quite likely to be invalid if issued long ago, so I suspect you haven't been issued with one.

    So, bottom line is this. You should get 2 months under law. If you have not been given a section 21, then you still have minimum 2 months in the property and possible 4-6 months if you fail to get alternative accomodation in time as court orders do not arrive quickly.

    If you have been given a section 21 that is valid (unlikely) then you still have a couple of months if you turn out to need it.

    Please provide some more detail on your paperwork and we can tell you exactly how to reply. Also please tell us what you want to achieve. You will not be able to stay in the property forever but you will be able to get more time by insisting on your rights, and if necessary by being difficult.

    PS Contact Shelter for housing advice on the phone if you like, just so you know this isn't random stuff some guy on a forum made up.

    And you are in England and Wales?
  • My landlady just sent me a txt let me know I need to vacate in one month.
    I have a 12 months contract that finishes the 4th of March, 2011.
    I tried to talk to her but she just switch off her mobile.
    Can she does that?
    I thought it was 2 months at least but not sure as I am new living in this country and dont know so well al the tenancy laws.

    I will really appreciate your comments.
    Thanks:(
  • Hi, it is 2 months notice and I believe it is in writing. Please go to the housing team at your local council who will confirm the exact legal rules.

    best wishes
  • tbs624
    tbs624 Posts: 10,816 Forumite
    hmerrick wrote: »
    My landlady just sent me a txt let me know I need to vacate in one month.
    I have a 12 months contract that finishes the 4th of March, 2011.
    I tried to talk to her but she just switch off her mobile.
    Can she does that?
    I thought it was 2 months at least but not sure as I am new living in this country and dont know so well al the tenancy laws.

    I will really appreciate your comments.
    Thanks:(

    (1) Your LL has to give you notice *in writing*
    (2) She cannot give you notice before your Fixed Term is due to expire next March unless you have breached your tenancy agreement
    (3) Even once she has given correctly timed notice, you do not need to move out until she has obtained a court order


    The local Council usually has someone called a Tenancy Relations Officer who deals with private sector tenancies - speak to them on Monday and tell them that your LL is seeking to evict you. Don't delete the text.

    If the property is in England or Wales then the LL has to have scheme registered any tenancy deposit you have paid - has she done this?
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