ending tenancy help

worried123

hi allapologies for bad typing with left fingers but i have a broken right arm.i have rented this flat privately for 5 years now. i have also been registered on the social housing list for a very long time.......recently i was told that i had first refusal on a housing association flat and on monday was told that i view next monday and if i want it, they will give me the keys there and then and the tenancy will start immediately....i am almost certain that i will take it as the area is lovely and even if it is not great inside, i can gradually do it up as i wish.......anyway, sorry, rambling on......i told my landlord on monday what might be happening and also told him of some problems with this flat - damp caused by flat roof etc and dodgy heating.......he is cool about giving him short notice and is going to get the problems sorted whther i go or stay......however, i have paid this months rent until the end of the month...but he said that should i take the new flat, i should leave by the following weekend to give him 2 weeks to do the flat up before it is re-rented.....i appreciate that i have given short notice......and indeed, i could have had those last 2 weeks to do up my new flat before moving in.......he is not a difficult landlord...however, i would like to know my rights on this....if he wants me to leave by next weekend.....should he give me back two weeks rent with my deposit.......many thanks indeedbest wishes
ps - my landlord just seems to feel that he needs 2 weeks to do flat up - but if i argue that i wish to stay here until the end of the month - i certainly dont want workmen around me for those two weeks - i am off work with a broken arm etc ....just a bit confused...it is actually better for me to leave two weeks before my rent is up as i have to start paying rent on other property immediately - surely landlord should be obliged to give me back two weeks rent....thanks

CloudCuckooLand

You are obliged to give notice of 1 month from the rent due date. (assuming AST tenancy)

Having already paid rent to end-Jan, your next rent due date is also end-Jan, I take it? So, that would mean on the appropriate date at end of Jan you would give notice of 1 month, and still have to pay for Feb and then move out at end-Feb.

Meantime the HA place needs to have its rent paid...


He's being fairly reasonable. You haven't given notice, officially, yet, but he's keeping it to 2 weeks. Ok, it would be nice to use that 2 weeks, but it you insist, then he can insist on notice from the correct date and tie you to end-Feb.

N79

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

You are obliged to give notice of 1 month from the rent due date. (assuming AST tenancy)

Sorry but this is not quite right. It should be 1 months notice to end at on the last day of a rental period (if rent paid monthly). The rent due date may also be the last day of a rental period but then again, it may not. Of itself the rent due date is not relevent to determining the correct notice dates for a tenancy (a mistake so many novice LLs make when they want possession).

Of course rental due date frequency does determine the length of a rental period - but this is the limit of the rent due date / notice interaction.

BitterAndTwisted

I think your landlord is being very, very reasonable and you are very fortunate that that is so. Paying two lots of rent for a fortnight in return for a secure tenancy for life should be a fair exchange in anyone's book

worried123

many thanks for your replies.what i am saying essentially is.......i have given him a months notice and i am paid up until the end of the month....landlord does not have a prob with any of this....however, if he wishes to spend the last two weeks of my paid for tenancy doing up the flat, he should therefore refund me two weeks rent. if i hired a car for a month paying a full months hire rental in advance, and the hire company asked for it back after two weeks for no other reason than it suited them to do so, they would surely be obliged to pay back the remaining two weeks rental.......why should my landlord do up his property at my expense....i have paid to live here until the end of the month.....he has a new tenant lined up for the end of the month. i have paid him expensive rent for five years without fail - been the perfect tenant - infact i have lived with inadequate heating and damp bedroom walls - and as he has said himself, i have kept the property in ecxellent condition.

CloudCuckooLand

worried123 wrote: »

...i am almost certain that i will take it...i told my landlord on monday what might be happening...

worried123 wrote: »

...i have given him a months notice and i am paid up until the end of the month...

"Might" and "Almost certain" does not tally with "given notice".

I think you think you have given notice. But a verbal indication of what *might* happen is not official notice, imo.

The landlord is being responsive to your needs for flexibility, and in return would like you to be so, over the exact leaving date, in order that he can turn around the property quickly.

You both get something out of it, I don't think it is being unfair.

mlz1413

The underlying assumption in all of this is that you are on a periodic tenancy, as in you had a fixed term rental at start and then it went onto rolling so meaning you have to give 1 months notice and the LL 2 months.

But if you have been signing new AST's each time for fixed terms you could well be tied in for much longer than 1 month.

Either way you have verbally told your LL you might be able to move out early and he has said that is fine but he wants access to be able to fix the problems before a new tenant moves in.

Do you NEED access to current property for the 2 weeks in question? if not then move into new place and accept 2 weeks rent is a fair value for meeting half way with LL.

If you do need access it is just to move furniture? if so ask LL if you can move stuff over the 2 weeks if you agree to move the big stuff (bed, sofa, etc) so he can get on with the work he wants to do.

The points about having paid rent and lived with problems are past tense, you should always pay your rent on time and the other stuff will depend on how many times you reported them, if you can prove you reported them etc - personally I would not be trying to use this as leverage unless you are prepared for the LL to picky about giving official notice and so having to pay more in rent.

Also you haven't mentioned deposits?

mlz1413

worried123 wrote: »

. if i hired a car for a month paying a full months hire rental in advance, and the hire company asked for it back after two weeks for no other reason than it suited them to do so, they would surely be obliged to pay back the remaining two weeks rental.......why should my landlord do up his property at my expense.

But your LL hasn't asked for the flat back off his own back, he has asked for it back as you are moving out (and will have somewhere else to live).

If you rented a car for 1 month and took it back 2 weeks early you probably wouldn't even get a thankyou let alone any refund.

DVardysShadow

worried123 wrote: »

.what i am saying essentially is.......i have given him a months notice and i am paid up until the end of the month....landlord does not have a prob with any of this....however, if he wishes to spend the last two weeks of my paid for tenancy doing up the flat, he should therefore refund me two weeks rent.
[car anaolgy snipped as irrelevant]

If you have given him notice after your last rent payment then very roughly he is entitled to a month's notice from your next rent due date [there is a small wrinkle in this which I forget, but someone will be along, I hope to provide the exact detail]

Now, he is actually letting you off a lot of notice - he could [subject to the exact details of your tenancy] take another month off you. Perhaps you should just check it out before you push your luck too far?

pinkshoes

I think your landlord is being lovely!

Considering by law you should give notice and pay your rent up to your NEXT rent date i.e. if you've already paid January's rent, then you would have to pay until the end of February, then only losing out on 2 weeks rent is a great deal!

Worst case scenario is that you would have to pay 6 weeks rent whilst at the same time paying on the new property.

G_M

"Might" and "Almost certain" does not tally with "given notice".

I agree absolutely with this. I once had tenants who were buying their own place. They kept finding places, telling me they 'might' be moving out, then the purchase would fall through and they'd stay.

As this repeated I started taking their 'notice' with a pinch of salt. I couldn't advertise, show the flat, interview credit vet prospective tenants on the basis of ' we might be moving'.

Eventually I had to tell them to give firm written notice, which I would hold them to ( and if a property fell through they'd need to find somewhere else temporary). I advised them to only give me notice on Echange of Contracts and to try for a long Exchange to Completion period. Failing this they'd have to pay rent for a period after moving unless I was fortunate in getting a quick replacement.

I appreciate house-buying is an uncertain, difficult business, but managing a rental is too when tenants change their minds!