RENTING: Is it normal to have to give 6months notice period?

K8C

Hello

I really hope somebody can give us some positive advice on where we stand with this!

My partner and I have been renting from a private landlord for the last 2years, in Nov 10 we informed him we are starting to look at buying a house together but early days. Over Christmas he sent us a 1year renewal contract which he informed my partner would cover us for 6months and then we can review it on a rolling basis after that and not to worry about it.

Stupidly we signed.

In Jan 2011 my partners Grandad died and we have subsequently been offered the house by his parents - we are welcome to move into it as soon as and only pay the bills until the mortgage is sorted out (saving us £625/month)

less than 2 weeks after we returned the signed contract we informed him of this hoping to give him a 1 to 2 month notice period. He has told us we have to stay for 6months or until he can find somebody and that he is being fair offering us this.

I dont agree as we have never even been offered contracts on a rolling basis before, neither do our contract state any information as to t&c's of agreement, surely after renting somewhere for this long, 6months is a rediculous notice period or is there a grace period for getting out of a signed contract?
I am worried about upsetting him in case he makes us stay for the whole year - can he do that? especially when landlords only need to give 2months to evict somebody on a fixed term contract?

HELP!

Gwhiz

It's not a 6 month notice period though, is it?

You have signed a 12 month contract with a 6 month break clause by the sounds of it.

What does the contract actually say?

Also..a LL can not give you 2 months notice if you are on a fixed term contract. A fixed term contract is exactly that. Unless, of course, you have signed up to some very dodgy t&cs

Rainmaker_uk

Sounds like your LL knew what he was doing... There was really no need to get you to sign a new contract as you would probably have been on a rolling contract already.

I suggest your best option is to find someone to rent the place for him asap or see if you can negotiate a better exit or just leave and let him chase you!

wrightk

Hopefully others will be along soon to help. Couple of points i can raise though ; start looking for tenants yourself to occupy the property. As far as i know if your leaving on a fixed term contract so long as you dont leave the LL 'in the lurch' so to speak and you can provide prospective tenants it is reasonable for you to break the contract because the LL is not losing any money.

Have you got a copy of the contracts? I dont understand if he has sent you a new fixed term contract for 1 year and you have signed it then surely its a year. What is he talking about saying that would cover you for 6 months. Youv'e either signed 6 months or 1 year- further info needed

Also your comments on the end, the landlord could give you notice but thats all he can do, 'evict' is the wrong word. You could stay put in that house until he had a posession order and a ballifs eviction notice which takes considerably longer than 2 months.

I would hope if you have only just signed a contract you would have a grace period of up to 28 days but like i said the others will be along shortly

K8C

wrightk wrote: »

Have you got a copy of the contracts? I dont understand if he has sent you a new fixed term contract for 1 year and you have signed it then surely its a year. What is he talking about saying that would cover you for 6 months. Youv'e either signed 6 months or 1 year- further info needed

I would hope if you have only just signed a contract you would have a grace period of up to 28 days but like i said the others will be along shortly

Thanks for your help.. we originally had a contract from a letting agent when we rented the house in 2009 however after signing they told us we would now be dealing with the landlord directly, when the contract was up in Jan 2010 and so forth in Jan 11 the landlord sends us through a very basic contract he has drawn up himself which only state the length of time the contract is for so Jan 10 to Jan 11, the address of the property and place for us all to sign. No T&Cs are included which is why I feel like an idiot for merely signing and assuming a notice period was natural after an initial contract ends.

We have definately signed for 1year but this is perhaps why he is saying he is being fair by letting us stay for 'only' 6months!
Can he just make it up as he goes along?!

Can anybody advise me further on the grace period? Is this standard or does it depend on what the contract says?

I should note that I have read through the original contract we received from the letting agent - there is no mention of notice periods or grace periods so where exactly would I stand?!

Nightmare

G_M

If you sign a 12 month contract, then you cannot be made to leave before the 12 months is up. But equally you cannot leave for 12 months. The contract provides security on both sides!

Often the contract has a 'break clause', typically at 6 months. This allows either party to end the contract at that point. (If your contract has no break clause, then you are committed to 12 months.)

I'm guessing this is what you signed. So the LL is right that you have legally contracted to stay for at least 6 months.

The only way this can change is if BOTH sides agree. Often a LL agrees to let a tenant leave early IF the tenant pays the costs of the LL getting a new tenant in place: advertising, credit checks etc.

Finding a replacement tenant yourself, as WrightK suggests, may help, but remember the LL does not have to accept whoever you find. They must be 'acceptable' to the LL. He will want to run credit checks/references on them.

Offer to pay for all this in return for the LL letting you leave early.

If he agrees, get it in writing.

BitterAndTwisted

Yep, if you did sign a 12 month fixed-term contract with a 6 month break-clause (which this most definitely sounds like) then your landlord appears to be acting very reasonably indeed. They are not obliged to release you from the contract at all and then you would have to pay all of the rent until the six month was up. Thank them, be grateful and bust a gut to be helpful in finding alternative tenants and allowing viewings.

Meatballs

If there is no T&C on the contract then there is nothing preventing you from subletting?

If the LL has not supplied an address to serve notice then no rent is due?

Does the agreement even specify how much the rent is and when it is due?

tbs624

K8C - you need to forget the idea that there is such a thing as a "grace period" when signed a Fixed Term tenancy agreement.

Its not about you giving a "six month notice" - as a T, you don't have to give any notice to end a FT agreement, provided that you are seeing the tenancy through to the agreed Fixed Term expiry date.

Look at this the other way - how would you feel if you had wanted to stay and it had been the LL who said that he wanted to change his mind and would you mind finding somewhere else?

That said, you mention that this new contract is a very basic contract. You are entitled to have specific terms given to you in writing and this contract may not cover all of those.

It may be that your current contract terms are misleading so your best bet is to get a local Council Tenancy Relations Officer ( private sector rentals) , CAB or law centre bod to have a look at it. You could also try Shelter's helpline.

Your best bet *will* probably be to get the LL to agree to re-advertise the property with you paying the reasonable costs of doing so and you would also have to continue to pay rent until a new suitable T could move in.

Meatballs also makes a couple of important points - under the LL&T Act 1987 a LL has to provide "an address at which Notices may be served" - if the LL does not then he may not lawfully demand rent until such time as that address is provided.

That does not mean that you can go and spend your rent money, it means you can put it on one side until he gives you an address, if he hasn't already done so.

Meatballs also has a point that the contract, if very basic, may not forbid subletting, but if you do just sublet you continue to be involved rather than being able to agree to bring the tenancy to an early close.

Did you pay a tenancy deposit btw and, if yes ( & property is in Eng/Wales) has your deposit been scheme registered by the LL?

K8C

tbs624 wrote: »

K8C - you need to forget the idea that there is such a thing as a "grace period" when signed a Fixed Term tenancy agreement.

Its not about you giving a "six month notice" - as a T, you don't have to give any notice to end a FT agreement, provided that you are seeing the tenancy through to the agreed Fixed Term expiry date.

Look at this the other way - how would you feel if you had wanted to stay and it had been the LL who said that he wanted to change his mind and would you mind finding somewhere else?


Your best bet *will* probably be to get the LL to agree to re-advertise the property with you paying the reasonable costs of doing so and you would also have to continue to pay rent until a new suitable T could move in.


Did you pay a tenancy deposit btw and, if yes ( & property is in Eng/Wales) has your deposit been scheme registered by the LL?

Hi Thanks to all for your comments.
I dont understand why I have to forget about a grace period when surely the reason such a thing exists would be to allow somebody to get out of a lengthy contract should circumstances change.
Are grace periods just a myth then?

Can you NOT have a notice period on fixed term? when you have been living somewhere for 2years surely the tenants have rights, we were no way notified that we were tied in for a whole year/6months or whatever the LL felt fit to give us, surely this should be stated on a contract, it is not on ours.
When he told us not to worry about it and we would discuss our tenancy once we had found a property to purchase, there was no way of knowing it would happen so quickly and under these circumstances.

And yes, hand on heart if the LL told me he had changed his mind about letting the property I would certainly find somewhere else to rent - why would I get my back up and say no i'm staying put for 6months especially when it doesnt state in our contract that I have a right to stay for the whole term - and that is my point it doesnt state anything!!!

As regards to finding someone to rent - although we are both working, communting, clearing out the rented house and clearing out/decorating our new house, well why not I mean my LL is ony retired he must have a hectic schedule musn't he - now must hope i'm not pregnant or i wont be giving birth in our first home (which we probably wont be able to afford in 6months time anyway, what with mortagae rates and all that)
There RANT over!

Anyway thanks for all your comments

Gwhiz

K8C wrote: »

Hi Thanks to all for your comments.
I dont understand why I have to forget about a grace period when surely the reason such a thing exists would be to allow somebody to get out of a lengthy contract should circumstances change.
Are grace periods just a myth then? YES

Can you NOT have a notice period on fixed term? NOT NORMALLY - THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED FIXED TERM when you have been living somewhere for 2years surely the tenants have rights, we were no way notified that we were tied in for a whole year/6months or whatever the LL felt fit to give us, surely this should be stated on a contract, it is not on ours.
When he told us not to worry about it and we would discuss our tenancy once we had found a property to purchase, there was no way of knowing it would happen so quickly and under these circumstances. NEVER RELY ON SPOKEN PROMISES

And yes, hand on heart if the LL told me he had changed his mind about letting the property I would certainly find somewhere else to rent - why would I get my back up and say no i'm staying put for 6months especially when it doesnt state in our contract that I have a right to stay for the whole term - and that is my point it doesnt state anything!!!

As regards to finding someone to rent - although we are both working, communting, clearing out the rented house and clearing out/decorating our new house, well why not I mean my LL is ony retired he must have a hectic schedule musn't he - now must hope i'm not pregnant or i wont be giving birth in our first home (which we probably wont be able to afford in 6months time anyway, what with mortagae rates and all that)
There RANT over!

Anyway thanks for all your comments

At the end of the day no one forced you to sign anything. You should always know what you are signing and understand the consequences. Harsh lesson in life.