6months into a 12month agreement. We want to extend & landlord happy.what next?

mickym

We are really happy in our place, and we are looking to exend the current lease of 12months.

We have been here for 6 months and the landlord has said that he is happy for us to stay longer , the longer the better.

When we signed our agreement with the letting agent (which have nothing to do with the management of the property) we signed a document with a date where we agree to hand keys back if need be (Think its a Section 21?! Cant remember the name of it).

What do we do now as regards sorting out an extention to our current agreement?

poppysarah

You could jut go onto a periodic rolling tenancy with no need to renew and a verbal agreement to stay for the long term.

mickym

we are looking to start a family soon so would like to see if we could tie into a year or 2.... what do people think?

anotherpaul_2

The document you should have signed was a tenancy agreement (I'm assuming an assured shorthold). A section 21 notice is a notice that the landlord wants you to vacate on a particular date - you wouldn't have signed one of those and it can't be included in the agreement itself, but can be issued near the start of the tenancy.

Assuming there isn't a section 21 notice in force, you can just continue with the existing tenancy, which automatically becomes a statutory periodic agreement. You can then give 1 months notice or the landlord two month (ending on the same date of the month as the fixed term ends) at any point.

If you want to have more security, you can sign a new agreement with another fixed term. This means the landlord can't give you notice (except if you breach the terms) during this period, but you can't either.

So there's a trade off between security of tenure and flexibility.

Notlob

mickym wrote: »

We are really happy in our place, and we are looking to exend the current lease of 12months.

We have been here for 6 months and the landlord has said that he is happy for us to stay longer , the longer the better.

When we signed our agreement with the letting agent (which have nothing to do with the management of the property) we signed a document with a date where we agree to hand keys back if need be (Think its a Section 21?! Cant remember the name of it).

What do we do now as regards sorting out an extention to our current agreement?

Are you wishing to take out a replacement agreement for a longer term now (half way through your current agreement) rather than wait until the end of the initial 12 months then renew?

Notlob

mickym

anotherpaul wrote: »

The document you should have signed was a tenancy agreement (I'm assuming an assured shorthold).

yes we did.

anotherpaul wrote: »

A section 21 notice is a notice that the landlord wants you to vacate on a particular date - you wouldn't have signed one of those and it can't be included in the agreement itself, but can be issued near the start of the tenancy.

we were issued with a Section 21 (by the LA) after we had the property for a week and were requested to go to the LA offices to view the inventory video.

I didnt sign it immediately as I know that by signing that piece of paper means that if the landlord wanted us out, we would have to be out by that date we signed to, but the LA insisted we had to sign it, and that it was isued to every tennant they have.

The LA only acted for the landlord to find a tennent, and has had no dealing with us since. We deal directly with landlord now.

I just wondered what would be the best approach. we are pretty sure we wish to stay here for a few years as we are v happy, and feel that a rolling contract may leave us vunerable if we had a baby.

If we were to sign up for a long term (say 2 year) we are still able to get out of the agreement cant we? but we are responsible for paying the rent until a new tennant is found?

Thanks

scrummy_mummy_2

If you sign a 2 year agreement, there is likley to be something called a break clause in it (the Agreement that is) which means that, after the first 6 months, the Landlord, or indeed you, can tender the appropriate notice if necessary...so signing for 2 years DOES NOT MEAN you are guaranteed the tenancy for that full period!
If he is in the lettings business for the long haul, you have no better security than that really....any length of AST will only really guarantee you 6 months because of this break clause...after all...neither you nor the LL can possibly know what will happen in the next 2 years and so you may not WANT to be tied in for that period of time.
My recommendation is to stay for the 12 months, then go on to a month to month 'periodic' agreement that can run for as long as you like. Year if necessary...I have had a tenant on a periodic agreement for 6 years now.
On a periodic agreement, The LL has to give you 2 periods' notice, (2 months) and you need only provide him with one month.
Forget about the S21 Notice, if it was signed before your deposit was protected it won't be valid anyway.
If you do want 'security', you could just keep resigning 6 months AST's.....you see your LL is likely to have a break clause in his AST and, even if you have signed for a year, after 6 months, he can give you 2 months notice to quit if necessary....so 6 month chunks is the most secure way of doing it.

kunekune

We started with a 12 month AST with no break clause. It ended at an inconvenient time of year for my job, so we renewed it early with another 12 month AST, again no break clause. The LA was surprised, as it meant a fee, thought we'd prefer to be on periodic, but it worked for us.

Of course, we may now leave before the 12 months are up but there's many a slip between offer and completion, so it's nice to know that we aren't under any time pressure. And plenty of time to get carpets cleaned, etc!

tbs624

scrummy_mummy wrote: »

If you sign a 2 year agreement, there is likley to be something called a break clause in it (the Agreement that is) which means that, after the first 6 months, the Landlord, or indeed you, can tender the appropriate notice if necessary...so signing for 2 years DOES NOT MEAN you are guaranteed the tenancy for that full period!

If he is in the lettings business for the long haul, you have no better security than that really....any length of AST will only really guarantee you 6 months because of this break clause...after all...neither you nor the LL can possibly know what will happen in the next 2 years and so you may not WANT to be tied in for that period of time.

(my emboldening) Bit of confusion here - an AST for a longer period does *not* have to have a break clause, and if it does have one, it does not have to be at the six month stage.

scrummy_mummy wrote: »

My recommendation is to stay for the 12 months, then go on to a month to month 'periodic' agreement that can run for as long as you like. Year if necessary...I have had a tenant on a periodic agreement for 6 years now.
On a periodic agreement, The LL has to give you 2 periods' notice, (2 months) and you need only provide him with one month.

...whereas if you have another FT the LL can only regain possession during that FT under very specific circumstances, and of course the rent will remain fixed: the OP has said s/he would like more security and a new longer FT would allow for that. The T has to bear in mind that s/he will obviously be committed to paying the rent for that full period, & in the absence of any break clause could only leave earlier than the FT expiry date with the agreement of the LL (the current T would of course have to pay the LLs reasonable costs involved with finding a new tenant) The benefit of the new FT for the LL is no possible void period and a tenant whom they know is reliable staying put.

scrummy_mummy wrote: »

If you do want 'security', you could just keep resigning 6 months AST's.....you see your LL is likely to have a break clause in his AST and, even if you have signed for a year, after 6 months, he can give you 2 months notice to quit if necessary....so 6 month chunks is the most secure way of doing it.

No, "6 month chunks" is not the most secure way of doing it, it's simply the way that some LLs and some LAs like to operate.

barnaby-bear

poppysarah wrote: »

You could jut go onto a periodic rolling tenancy with no need to renew and a verbal agreement to stay for the long term.

Not with a section 21 issued... all bets off wrt to periodic tenancy notice.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=18430791&highlight=sword+of+damocles#post18430791

search sword of damocles - a section 21 doesn't expire per se - notice has effectively been given....