Notice period

toxi

Hi - I called my estate agent today to give notice to end a periodic tenancy (UK).

We want to move out in 6 weeks' time, so we are actually giving more notice than the month required.

I was told by the agent today that as our agreement date is the 6th of the month, we are too late to give notice this month and so will by liable for rent up to the 5th of November.

I've tried arguing the point asking them to be a bit lenient given that we've been tenants for more than 2 years, have never paid rent late etc and are giving more than the required notice. They refuse to budge however, and are sticking to making us pay up to the 5th Nov.

I've been trying to get in touch with Shelter to confirm, but haven't been able to get through, so was hoping someone on here may know!

Thanks in advance
T

pinkteapot

I'm afraid they are correct - notice has to be at least one month but also coincide with a rental date. I.e. you can leave on the 5th of any month (you can of course leave earlier but you'll pay rent till the 5th). It saves landlords having to calculate two weeks rent for people.

Jowo_2

Shelter do have a section on their website to provide advice on how to end a periodic tenancy. If the rental period is monthly, then the tenant does have to ensure the notice period expires with that rental period. Link leads to the England shelter site

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

"If your agreement is periodic (ie rolling from week to week or month to month), you normally have to give at least four weeks' notice to end it, or a calendar month if you have a monthly tenancy. The only exceptions to this are:

• If your landlord agrees to accept a shorter notice period (see above) or agrees that someone else can take your place (see below).
• If you are an excluded occupier, in which case the amount of notice you have to give will depend on whether you have a tenancy or license agreement. Working out whether you have a tenancy or license can be quite complicated, especially if you don't have a written agreement. Get in touch with an adviser to check your rights if you can't agree a date that both you and your landlord are happy with. Use our directory to find a local advice centre.
• If you pay rent less frequently than monthly (every three months, for example) - if this is the case, you have to give notice equivalent to a rental period.

It is always best to give notice in writing and ensure that the notice ends on the first or last day of the period of a tenancy. For example, if your tenancy is monthly and started on the fifth day of the month, the notice you give the landlord should end on the fourth or the fifth. "

toxi

Thanks for your replies. Have just handed in the notice and the agents have agreed to market with an available date of when we're leaving, so if new tenants come along, we may be lucky - will have to wait and hope.

I appreciate that contractually they are in the right - just seems so unfair that we're giving 6 weeks for them to find someone, whereas we could have given notice two days ago and only given 4 weeks!

Anyway, lesson learned - thanks again for responses.

T