Minimum and maximum notice period

mouche

Hello everyone. It looks like we will exchange contracts very soon to buy our first house so now comes the question of when to give notice to our landlord.

We are now on a rolling contract after an AST (original AST was for 6 months but we've stayed nearly 3 years). Our rent day is the 10th.

The date of completion for our new house will probably be 21st April.

My question is if we give notice, does it have to be exactly one month or can it be for longer. For example if we give notice on 9th March, do we *have* to move out on 10th April or can we move out on 21st April (having paid the rent for the extra 11 days of course). Essentially, is the one month notice we have to give the exact term or the minimum term.

Thanks very much for your help.

CloudCuckooLand

The letter of the law (& contract) is that notice and departure dates have to fall in line with the date on the tenancy. In your case the 10th.

You can always ask and see what your Landlord will agree to...

G_M

You can move out and end the tenancy on any day you wish provided your LL agrees (get agreement in writing).

Otherwise - no max notice period. You can give notice now to leave next Christmas if you wish! But it must be at least a month ending on a rental period. Pay rent on 10th? To end it on 9th April you must get your notice to the LL by tomorrow (9th March).

However you can always negotiate the 21st April.
Or give notice for 9th but not move out - LL would still have to go to court to evict you which would take longer than 21st April but that's pretty mean: he might have a new tenant waiting to move in on the 10th who is then homeless........

Discuss with LL.

westv

I'd say that, as long as the gap between the date you move out and the day your tenancy expires is two weeks or less (the length of a normal holiday), then I don't see any problem or any reason to tell the landlord. I did the same thing with my last move and just popped back on the tenancy expiry date to go through the inventory etc.
I seem to remember that something like 2 weeks was also the max length of time the property could remain unoccupied before the LL needed to be advised.

tbs624

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

The letter of the law (& contract) is that notice and departure dates have to fall in line with the date on the tenancy. In your case the 10th.

My bolding. Notice has to tie in with the "rental period" The rental period for a stat periodic agreement runs from the day after the expiry of the preceding Fixed term - this date may or may not be the same as the Rent Due date.

G_M

westv wrote: »

I seem to remember that something like 2 weeks was also the max length of time the property could remain unoccupied before the LL needed to be advised.

You need to read your lease to determine this. It usually reflects the landlord's insurance which will also specify a maximum period of unoccupancy. Insurance risks increase greatly in empty properties.
30, 45 or 60 days are common.

westv

G_M wrote: »

You need to read your lease to determine this. It usually reflects the landlord's insurance which will also specify a maximum period of unoccupancy. Insurance risks increase greatly in empty properties.
30, 45 or 60 days are common.

Ok that sounds more likely. i was just trying to think from memory.

Gwhiz

I would say do not give notice until you have exchanged,