Tenant ending AST

lulalola

Hi all

I've had a look through old threads on this topic and am slightly confused as there's seems to a be a lot of conflicting information - similarly on various government websites and Shelter's site. I am living in a flat under a 6-month AST. I was under the impression that I didn't legally have to give any notice to leave, as it's a fixed-term contract, but decided to give a month's notice to my landlord, to be polite. He is now saying I should have given two month's notice. There is absolutely nothing at all in my contract about giving notice to leave. Can anyone clear this up for me - which one of us is correct?

Many thanks.
L

climbgirl

You are correct - you don't need to give any notice at all with an AST, you just leave on the last day of the tenancy. Most people will of course tell the landlord they are not renewing as you have done, but legally you're not obliged too.

lulalola

Thank you! Hopefully the landlord will find a new tenant and it'll all work out fine, but good to know where I stand if not.

mlz1413

As your term is fixed then as long as you are out on the last day shown on the contract you have no legal obligation to give notice.

If you had gone past the last day then you need to give notice of ONE month from rent date. (this should be shown on your AST contract)

If your LL had given you notice then he has to give 2 months from the rent date. Most write to you 2 months before the end to ask if you wish to stay and confirm the rental for the period.

Did you pay a deposit? if so ensure you know which deposit scheme it is held with so you can follow the correct procedure to reclaim it.

did you have a signed inventory when you moved in? if so ask your LL to meet you before you leave to go through this to ensure there are no issues he wants rectifying before you go.

also ensure you take meter readings when you go and hand the keys to the LL or LA and get a signature for them.

DVardysShadow

Landlord is confused. He must give 2 months notice, the tenant need only give 1 month, so it looks like he is the wrong notice rules to you. climbgirl is correct about leaving at the end of a fixed period - although it is polite to give notice in the normal way.