Giving notice during crossover between AST/periodic

belisha-beacon

Well, it's finally happened although I'm surprised it has taken so long - after numerous problems, our landlord has decided to give us two months' notice. It's actually quite a big relief because it gives me the push I need to find somewhere which is properly managed and where I won't get out of the shower to discover a strange man in my house! :T However, if I can I'd like to leave earlier than that, and would like to give him one months' notice. I'm on edge in this house and would like somewhere to call my own (literally - we get told off if we accidentally refer to 'our house', eg. 'would it be possible to fix the faulty flooring in our house?', because it is his house not ours). I don't want to pay more money than necessary to someone who thinks that we are unreasonable for wanting to know who has access to our home.

We are in a strange crossover period. We were on an AST, fixed for 12 months from March 2009 but with a break clause after six. Our contract states that we can give one months' notice at any time and that the landlord can give two months' notice at any time. We'd like to give notice now if we can (or at least as soon as we've found a new property!), because we can be ready to move in two weeks and then leave a good couple of weeks to get everything spick and span for the inventory check without too much stress. However, that months' notice would take us out of the end of the AST and into the periodic tenancy. It's a few weeks until our rent date and I know that on a periodic tenancy you can only give notice that ends on a valid rent date. That could mean that we have to be here for another seven weeks, or pay two sets of rent for a while. So, my questions is:

-Can I give notice now, as per my AST contract or would the terms of the periodic tenancy hold sway?

Thanks everyone! Also just to note, I don't need advice on how to stay in the house because I really don't want to, I need help to get out as quickly as I can!!

gazfocus

As long as you give one months notice from the rent due date, that's fine. So say you moved in to the property on 10th March 2009, make sure your landlord gets your notice by 9th March and then you can move out on 9th April.

However, it does have to be one month from the next rental date (i.e. 9th of the month) so if you give notice on 20th March, it will be one months notice from 9th April to move out on 9th May.

franklee

I'd say that if you give notice during your fixed term then you need to do it to meet the terms in the tenancy agreement. Excepting if you want to leave at the end of the fixed term (and not a second later) then no notice is required but you should give at least something so as to arrange checkout and key handover and so that all parties know when you left. If you give notice after the fixed term has ended then the rules of a periodic tenancy apply and if rent is due montly you'd need to give a minimum of one months notice that ends at the end of a period. Note a new period starts on the day after the fixed term ends regardless of which day you happen to pay rent.

belisha-beacon

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'd love to move out at the end of the fixed term but I'm not sure that I'd be able to go that quickly because it will take time to get my references etc done (especially as I'm probably not going to be getting a good reference!), so it's useful to know that if I follow the fixed term contract and give notice on a non-rent date, that that would be OK. It's a big relief to me!