Notice to quit, assured shorthold tenancy

dragonfly02

We have been renting privatly for 5 years and have now begun the process of buying our own property.
Have just called the landlord to give 1 months notice but there is some doubt about the terms of contract.

We have an assured shorthold tenancy which does state the term being 12 months :eek:

Never noticed this before and never needed to, but we will be moving in 1 month regardless
The landlord will "get back to us"?

In the last 5 years we have only had 2 inspections of the boiler and gas oven.
Our last boiler safety check was over 1 year ago and it notified the landlord that the boiler was not safe in their opinion.

As the landlord has not had regular gas checks carried out does this mean he is breach of contract and could we terminate the contract on that basis?

Also if WE were to breach the contract by leaving the property empty for more than 14 days does that meant the contract would simply disolve?

BobProperty

dragonfly02 wrote:

We have been renting privatly for 5 years and have now begun the process of buying our own property.
Have just called the landlord to give 1 months notice but there is some doubt about the terms of contract.

We have an assured shorthold tenancy which does state the term being 12 months

From when is the important question?

dragonfly02 wrote:

In the last 5 years we have only had 2 inspections of the boiler and gas oven.
Our last boiler safety check was over 1 year ago and it notified the landlord that the boiler was not safe in their opinion.

As the landlord has not had regular gas checks carried out does this mean he is breach of contract and could we terminate the contract on that basis?

Also if WE were to breach the contract by leaving the property empty for more than 14 days does that meant the contract would simply disolve?

Your landlord not having a current gas safety certificate is a criminal offence I think. Just because of that doesn't allow you to set aside the contract. I don't know the legal terminology, but I suspect that just because a couple of the clauses are breached by either or both of you does not entitle either of you to claim the contract is void.

dragonfly02

BobProperty wrote:

From when is the important question?

We signed a new cover note end of April.

Also I don't understand, If the landlord not complying to his set of terms does not justify terminating the contract for the safety of my family, then surely I don't have to stick to our rules with a 12 month term then?

BobProperty

dragonfly02 wrote:

We signed a new cover note end of April

Cover note? You either signed a new AST or you didn't, that is the crux of the matter.

black-saturn

Your landlord has to have a gas check every 6 months by law.

As for giving notice it should be done in writing. Keep a copy and send it by recorded delivery. It has to be one month from when your rent is paid. So if your rent is next paid on 1st September the notice should have been received by 1st August.

BobProperty

black-saturn wrote:

Your landlord has to have a gas check every 6 months by law.

As for giving notice it should be done in writing. Keep a copy and send it by recorded delivery. It has to be one month from when your rent is paid. So if your rent is next paid on 1st September the notice should have been received by 1st August.

OP have a read of this http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-3145.cfm
black-saturn what are you on about? The gas check is annual. If the OP is still within the first 12 months of a fixed 12 month tenancy then they can't give notice to quit as they are liable to pay the rent for the 12 months (it works both ways, the landlord can't evict them during this period either). That's why I want to know when the tenancy was agreed. After the initial period, once it goes periodic, then you can give 1 months notice.

jamie304

Doesnt it depend on the contract? Both my previous ones have required 2 months notice by either party after the initial period.

dragonfly02

Ok guys just to clear things up
for the first 2-3 years the landlord came round with a FULL 13 page AST.
Every year after that he has just been bringing the final page where we all sign and get it witnessed.

BobProperty

jamie304 wrote:

Doesnt it depend on the contract? Both my previous ones have required 2 months notice by either party after the initial period.

A lot of them say that but once it goes periodic it's one month by the tenant and 2 months by the landlord. That IIRC is the law and it also isn't unfair that the landlord is on 2 month's and the tenant 1 month's notice.

BobProperty

dragonfly02 wrote:

Ok guys just to clear things up
for the first 2-3 years the landlord came round with a FULL 13 page AST.
Every year after that he has just been bringing the final page where we all sign and get it witnessed.

Oh flip! Er where are the dates? They used to be on the front page of the AST's I used to use. I suspect that you can just give 1 months notice as IMHO, as you could argue you are on a periodic tenancy from when the last full AST ended. I think a court would be reluctant to accept a signed back page as evidence of current AST, especially if you were disagreeing about it. I don't know the legal implications of this situation, as I'd never go down this route either as a landlord or a tenant.

dragonfly02

Bobproperty, I think i am wrong (sorry)
To my partners recollection the landlord came round with a pre signed and witnessed back page AND the AST, we then had to have our piece signed and witnessed as my partner was not home and send back the signed back page to landlord so both parties had a copy.

As per bloody usual we are now scouring all the paperwork to find it which is prooving difficult