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Tenancy renewal

Hi,

some advice needed regarding assured shorthold tenancy agreement. We have been in the property for a few years now and renew every year in December. We now advised the agents that we are not planning to renew the contract next month. In return they said there is a 2 month notice period that will take us all the way till the end of January. I assume the plan is to charge us full rent for that time.

We are planning to move out at the end of the contract date. Can they enforce that much notice on us even though the contract was always expected to finish next month?

Thanks in advance, it would be good to get some advice before I go back complaining to them :(
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Comments

  • Slithery
    Slithery Posts: 6,046
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    No notice is required if you're leaving at the end of the fixed term.

    * Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977
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    edited 30 November 2017 at 11:37AM
    TalTal wrote: »
    Hi,

    ...... We have been in the property for a few years now and renew every year in December.
    So on a specified date in Dec 2016 ( eg 15/12/16) you signed a 12 month fixed term yes?

    Then 12 months later (on 14/12/17 in my example) the tenancy will end and you can leave. That is the meaning of a fixed term tenancy.

    No notice required. It is, of course polite and helpful to give notice, to arrange check-out, handing back keys etc, but not a legal requirement.

    No need to enter a debate with the LL/agent. It sounds like if you go back to them they will continue to argue.

    You have politely informed them of your intention so no further discussion needed till you move out.

    At tat point, you write, requesting your deposit. You may then find they try to retain it, or some of it, claiming you did not serve notice properly. You will then raise a dispute with the deposit scheme (is the deposit registered?), and win.

    See also

    * Deposits: payment, protection and return

    * Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?
  • I did suspect, it is not something they can enforce, but need to make sure. They knew the contract was ending in December and we are not cutting it short :)

    Thank you for confirming this :)
  • Oh I didn't even dream of getting the deposit back, but will definitely save your advice as I expect them to use the notice period to get out of returning the deposit. So that even sounds better than I expected.
  • Comms69
    Comms69 Posts: 14,229
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    TalTal wrote: »
    Oh I didn't even dream of getting the deposit back, but will definitely save your advice as I expect them to use the notice period to get out of returning the deposit. So that even sounds better than I expected.
    Is it protected?
  • If I recall the contract correctly it is protected. Will check the small print later. If not we lose the deposit, which always seems to be a hard thing to get back
  • Comms69
    Comms69 Posts: 14,229
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    TalTal wrote: »
    If I recall the contract correctly it is protected. Will check the small print later. If not we lose the deposit, which always seems to be a hard thing to get back



    No, if it's not protected you can sue for upto 3x the value....


    Don't check the contract, check the 3 schemes which are available. It takes around 10 minutes. You'll know for sure then
  • LandyAndy
    LandyAndy Posts: 26,377
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    TalTal wrote: »
    If I recall the contract correctly it is protected. Will check the small print later. If not we lose the deposit, which always seems to be a hard thing to get back


    On the contrary. If it is not protected they are potentially in deep doo-doo.
  • Did a quick check and it is protected.
  • aneary
    aneary Posts: 921 Forumite
    TalTal wrote: »
    Did a quick check and it is protected.

    Which means it'll be easier for you to get back the deposit when they try and deduct it the 'rent' from it.
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