Notice period on tenancy agreement help needed *updated-More advice needed*

Comet91

Hi,

I don't know if this is the coreect place for this but i am hoping that someone will be able to help.

We are in our rented place on a 6 months lease, we have now been in here for just over 5 months. We have been offered a bigger house by a relative so my husband went in today to give our months notice in. The letting agent however said that we could not give our notice till the full 6 months is up. I thought that since the notice period takes us over the 6 months we would be ok?

The tenancy agreement states: The Tenant may bring the Tenancy to an end once the Term Certain has, or will have, elasped by giving the landlord not less then One months written notice stating that they wish to vacate the premises.

Any help on this matter would be appreciated.

tizhimi

Nice and simple this one... You have a six month contract. At the end of the six months you are moving out. You are not renewing this contract.

The agency should have asked you if you wanted to renew. Shame on them if they haven't. They are trying to get more money out of you.

Just write to them and say we are leaving when our contract is up. End of.

Jowo_2

Tell them that you've taken legal advice and that there was no obligation for you to give notice to leave at the end of a fixed term and that the clause is unenforceable and that you expect them to abide by housing law which takes precedent over the instructions they've given you. By the sounds of it, they've treated you as if you will be in a periodic agreement by the time the notice expires, hence the reason why there would be another full month to serve, but you didn't require to give them any notice anyway.

The following is from the Shelter England site so check on the Scotland or Ireland site if that applies.

"What happens when my agreement runs out?
If your agreement is for a fixed term (eg six months), you can leave on the last day of the fixed term without giving notice. But you must ensure that you do not stay even one day over, or you will automatically become a periodic tenant and will have to give proper notice or come to an agreement with your landlord.
If you intend to leave on the last day you are not legally required to give the landlord any notice, but it's usually a good idea to do so, to avoid any dispute about when you actually left. "


http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/ending_a_tenancy_or_licence/ending_a_fixed_term_agreement

tizhimi

Yep. What Jowo said - but a lot better worded than me!!

Comet91

Thanks so much for the replies!

So it doesn't matter if we don't give a full months notice as long as we leave on the day the agreement ends even though in the tenancy agreement it says we need to give a months notice? The fixed term comes to an end on the 15th October.

Sorry to sound stupid i just want to be 100% sure of our facts before i go argue our case lol

mlz1413

"I thought that since the notice period takes us over the 6 months we would be ok?"

You need to leave on the last day of your AST, if you want to stay longer then it has be a month unless the LL / LA agree to less.

So if you have given one months notice from half way through a rental month then the LA can ask you to give a full notice from rent date.

theartfullodger

The letting agent is clearly lying: Either he knows he is lying (a crook) or doesn't (stupid, ignorant & untrained...). Wondered what else he will try on.. I'd take anything he says with a serious pinch of salt.

make sure you get an effective checkout done, you get copy of paperwork & have a witness...

Jowo is right!

Cheers!

Lodger

Comet91

mlz1413 wrote: »

"I thought that since the notice period takes us over the 6 months we would be ok?"

You need to leave on the last day of your AST, if you want to stay longer then it has be a month unless the LL / LA agree to less.

So if you have given one months notice from half way through a rental month then the LA can ask you to give a full notice from rent date.

So we can say forget the months notice we are just going to leave on the last day of fixed term instead then?

tizhimi

Yes Comet91, you are correct!

Comet91

theartfullodger wrote: »

make sure you get an effective checkout done, you get copy of paperwork & have a witness...

Cheers!

Lodger

Sorry to sound stupid but what do you mean by effective checkout? This is the 1st time we have ever rented so i am unsure of the proper procedures.

mlz1413

Comet91 wrote: »

So we can say forget the months notice we are just going to leave on the last day of fixed term instead then?

yes

as lodger has just said do make sure you get signed check out inventory. Also read utilities, give new address for forwarding mail and apply for return of deposit.