advice needed about renewal of AST

june118_2

I have received a letter from the letting agency on 25/01/10 stating that my tenancy was due for renewal in less than two months from now on (15 march 2010 expiry of term). They want me to tell them if I wish to renew my lease or not within 7 days.

I am puzzled by this letter because I have been renting the property on the basis of an ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY with a 6 MONTHS TERM for the last 7 years. Until now, I always assumed the lease was subject to the terms of STATUTORY PERIODIC TENANCY as it is the first time since I moved in that I am required to return a renewal slip with notice to do so.

My TA specifies that no less than two months notice are required if the landlord wants to bring the tenancy to an end before the expiry of the term.
Currently, my rent has been paid up to the 15/03/10, the end of the term.

Is that a trick from the agency to change the terms of my tenancy agreement? Are they actually entitled to give me 7 days notice to reply?
Since I have decided to remain in the property so far and my rent is already paid two months in advance, am I legally obliged to reply or not?

Thank you for the advice.

DVardysShadow

???? What have you been doing?

You have been in the property for 7 years on successive 6 months ASTs? If this is the case, unless you have let an AST expire and not renewed for a while you have never gone statutory periodic.

Do you want to go statutory periodic? If so, just let things roll.

june118_2

Thank you for your reply. I am still a bit confused though.

According to you, my tenancy must be statutory periodic. My AST started 16 Feb 2004. As I didn't know I was supposed to do anything, I have indeed let it expire after the first 6 months term and have never renewed it for the last 7 years. Since then, the management of the property has seen 3 different letting agencies, the rent was increased once but I was never required to renew the TA. So I assumed the general terms remained.
I do not wish to see my current tenancy change and I do not wish to end it just yet.

I am worried that if I answered yes, they could change the terms of the TA to my disadvantage. So I am tempted to let things roll as you said but what are the implications if I do? Could I be served with a repossession notice after 7 days? I am not sure where I stand there.

Sorry, that's a lot of questions. I might visit my CAB later but they haven't always been helpful in the past.
Thank you for your time

clutton_2

i think DVS misread your post.... it seems to me that if you have only signed one agreement - 7 years ago - that you are indeed on a Statutory Periodic tenancy and you do not have to renew the agreement. Is this a new agency that has taken over ? If so, they are probably after "tenancy-renewal fees from both you and the LL ...

I cannot imagine the LL wanting to get rid of you if you paid your rent on time all this time, but, from a LL's perpective, i would probably be wanting a rent increase now, if you have only had one in 7 years !!! you have been very lucky

You cannot be forced to leave your home without a court order....

i suggest you do nothing.....

Fire_Fox

So your AST started on 16 Feb 2004, was for a period of six months and you have never renewed? Then you are on a periodic tenancy and that letter from the agency is a load of rubbish, your tenancy doesn't expire on 16 Feb 2010 it never expires. If you are already on a periodic tenancy you can be served an S21 two months notice to quit at any time, and you can serve one months notice at any time.

It's up to you if you wish to sign a new AST. This will give you six months security, but as you say may mean they try to change the terms of your agreement and probably means you will get stung for an admin charge. You do not have to sign the slip in seven days, that's bordering on bullying tactics, I'd write a letter back tho so they know what your intentions are. The landlord would be crazy to serve notice simply because you don't sign a new agreement assuming you are a good tenant!

You don't need to bother the CAB, we can sort you out here, the case doesn't seem complicated.

G_M

Do nothing.

Sleep easy. You are on a periodic tenancy and need sign nothing.

BitterAndTwisted

Presumably if you are paying your rent that far in advance and have been in the property for over six years without a fixed-term AST the landlord is (and should be) grateful to have such a reliable tenant and is obviously quite content to have you on a rolling periodic AST.

Thus just looks like a new LA doing its level best to get its fees target in for the month.

Do nothing.

franklee

I agree you could stay as you are on a periodic tenancy by doing nothing but a couple of points spring to mind:

1. If you are worried about the contract changing (as it well might) then you can always ask to read it first and refuse to sign anything you don't like or negioate to get it amended or changed back.

2. If you sign a new six months agreement now the landlord will have to protect your deposit in a scheme. This is worth having IMO.

YMMV.

june118_2

I am not interested in renewing my AST as I plan to move out within six months. I think I am going to wait and see if the LA writes to me again at the end of their 7 days notice. Then I will decide if I should let them know my intentions yet.
However, finding out that I have been rolling month to month on a periodic tenancy for so long makes me wonder if there are any other loose ends.

When the AST expired after 6 months and switched to a periodic tenancy, wasn't my deposit protected anymore? What does it mean?

Also, my original AST stated that my rent was inclusive of water bills, central heating as well as council tax. I never had any issues regarding the water and the central heating as bills were taken care of by the landlord.
But I am a bit concerned about the council tax now.
I applied for a PO box recently and was declined on the grounds that my address did not match the council tax register. When I informed the council tax office about the matter they said the council tax was paid for the entire building (by floor?) but my flat number was removed from the register and did not appear anymore in 2005 (I moved in in 2004). Could this too be related to the AST expiration?

BitterAndTwisted

If it states quire clearly that your rent was inclusive of the council tax I believe that it would be rather difficult for the local authority to try and charge you for it now. All of the clauses in your original AST remain unchanged once you go onto a rolling periodic tenancy. The rules about protecting your deposit are not clear to me given the length of your tenancy, so I'm hoping an expert will be along shortly to advise you.

Fire_Fox

june118 wrote: »

When the AST expired after 6 months and switched to a periodic tenancy, wasn't my deposit protected anymore? What does it mean?

Also, my original AST stated that my rent was inclusive of water bills, central heating as well as council tax. I never had any issues regarding the water and the central heating as bills were taken care of by the landlord.
But I am a bit concerned about the council tax now.

I applied for a PO box recently and was declined on the grounds that my address did not match the council tax register. When I informed the council tax office about the matter they said the council tax was paid for the entire building (by floor?) but my flat number was removed from the register and did not appear anymore in 2005 (I moved in in 2004). Could this too be related to the AST expiration?

Your AST has not expired, the fixed term has finished but the AST is now a periodic tenancy on the same terms.

Legally the occupant is responsible for the council tax except in the case of an HMO. As long as it is actually paid up to date it doesn't really matter but I would check again before you move out. No idea why the address changed in 2005, you need to check the VOA website for your postcode and see what comes up.