breaking a tenancy advice

split_second

hi all hope i can get some level headed advice:

my girlfriend rents a flat from a letting agent that owns numerous blocks of flats and rents others out for private landlords, this flat is in a block wholly managed by them. my girlfriend is very unhappy there and i am not happy with her living there, reasons include

*the maintenance of communal areas is shocking- various alarms and buzzers go off for days on end and the agent never deals with problems
* issues reported to them about the flat never get dealt with or are dealt with so poorly they repeat, one such issue being the hob that has broken 3 times in 18 months
*the neighbour across frequently smokes and deals in cannabis, it is a VERY distinctive smell that frequently radiates from the communal corridor (which the 2 flats share)

i have my own place and am happy for her to move in whenever she wants, the letting agents have decided they want 2 months notice because she has been there over 6 months, as an ex landlord myself i know that breaking a tenancy agreement is frowned upon (i had it done to me) but being practical, how can she/we do this quickly and efficiently

thanks

Hump

Is she still in a fixed term agreement or has it lapsed and become a statutory periodic tenancy?

split_second

minimum term passed and now it rolls month to month

Hump

Then she'd only have to give one month's notice to leave - best that the 'month' coincides with a period of the tenancy so you'd probably end up giving one month plus a couple of days in practice

split_second

i phoned them as a ''prosective tennant'' in one of the nearby blocks, they said its 2 months notice for any tennancys after 6 month minimum period, saying i was looking at moving to the area and they confirmed that its 2 full months from when the notice is given.

is that allowed as a contract term?

G_M

Did you read Hump's post? If the fixed term has expired, the property is in Eng/Wales, and she pays rent monthly, the notice period IS ONE MONTH TO COINCIDE WITH RENTAL PERIOD.

So if the fixed term ended on, say 2nd January, then since 2nd March has passed, notice given now would run from 2nd April till 1st May. Tenancy ends 1st May.

The agent/landlord can say what they like, and write what they like in the contract, but THAT IS THE LAW.

See Shelter here.

"alarms and buzzers" - report noise pollution to Environmental Health.
"issues eg hob" - report to landlord/agent IN WRITING. See repair enforcement here.
"neighbour across frequently smokes and deals in cannabis" - report to police

edit: your post heading is "breaking a tenancy". Do you mean 'breaking' or do you mean 'ending'. I have advised on the basis of the latter. If she wishes to 'break' the tenancy agreement, that is easy: move out tomorrow!

00ec25

with respect if you were a LL yourself you ought to know they are talking rubbish. Once in periodic then the tenant only gives 1 month's notice timed to the original rental period dates

seems we have a LA who does not know their LL&T Act despite all their properties. Lots of posts on here with links to the relevant legislation

tbs624

G_M wrote: »

Did you read Hump's post? If the fixed term has expired, the property is in Eng/Wales, and she pays rent monthly, the notice period IS ONE MONTH TO COINCIDE WITH RENTAL PERIOD.

OP - please note that no training, specific expertise or qualification is required to be able to work as an LA and , sadly, with many of them it shows.

Are you certain that the FT has finished? Two months from either party would be required if the FT is for a longer period and has a mutual "break clause" which may be activated after 6 months has elapsed.

If GF is now definitely under a stat periodic tenancy then the LA is wrong, as Hump and G_M have said - it would be one month from the T and two from the LL.

G_M wrote: »

So if the fixed term ended on, say 2nd January, then since 2nd March has passed, notice given now would run from 2nd April till 1st May. Tenancy ends 1st May.

If original FT ended on 2 Jan then subsequent rental periods would run from 3rd of one month to the 2nd of the next

slyracoon

As others have said if she is on a staturtory periodic tenancy and not in a fixed term period then she only has to give 1 monthe notice to leave. The LA would have to give 2 months if they wanted her to leave. Notice must coincide with a rent day.

tbs624

slyracoon wrote: »

As others have said if she is on a staturtory periodic tenancy and not in a fixed term period then she only has to give 1 monthe notice to leave. The LA would have to give 2 months if they wanted her to leave. Notice must coincide with a rent day.

My bolding. Not necessarily. Rental periods run from the day after the expiry of the FT, which may or may not be a rent due date.

G_M

tbs624 wrote: »

If original FT ended on 2 Jan then subsequent rental periods would run from 3rd of one month to the 2nd of the next

Why do I always do this??!

Yeah - in my head I was thinking if fixed period started on 2nd (it would end on 1st and) periodic would run from 2nd to 1st.

I consider myself reasonably intelligent and reasonably familiar with all this, so it just shows how careful tenants and landlords have to be with giving notice, as it is easy to get it wrong and totally invalidate the notice.