Giving notice to Tenants - please help.

Boobydoo

Morning all.

Hoping you can help me. My Husband and I have been renting out our property since October 2009 to the same Tenants, but due to unforseen circumstances we need to move back into the property.

I want to do this properly and with the minimum of stress to the Tenant and us.

The Agreement started on 8th October 2009 (we had allowed the Tenant access to the house one month before, free of charge. The Agreement is a Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement and the term is six months. The rent payment date is on 20th each month, but the Tenant asked for it to change to 25th each month, which we allowed.

So I take it I give them two months notice? As I need to give two rental periods then do they need to be out by 20th or 25th October 2011?

Any advise would be appreciated

Annabee

As its now 30 August you have missed the deadline to give notice this month. You can give them notice before 25 September and this has to be 2 month's notice so they won't actually have to leave until 24 November. I think this is correct, but I'm pretty sure it is too late to ask them to leave in October now.

Boobydoo

On another forum someone has told me that I have to go by the original agreement date................I'm so confused.

So would this mean that I need to ask them to be out by 8th November?

Sorry for the questions.

jjlandlord

Boobydoo wrote: »

On another forum someone has told me that I have to go by the original agreement date................I'm so confused.

(I'm assuming the property is in England or Wales).

Yes, what count are the tenancy periods, not the rent payment date.

If the tenancy started on the 8th for a 6 month term, periodic tenancy periods run from the 8th of month n to the 7th of month n+1.

So you need to serve a s.21(4)(a) notice that you require possession after the 7th of month x (allowing 2 clear tenancy periods/months as notice).

If you took a deposit, it must have been protected and prescribed info sent to tenant in order for the notice to be valid.

And not that the notice is not a notice to quit. It just entitles you to seek a possession order after its expiry.

Annabee

From LandlordZone:

Notice by Landlord
To end a shorthold tenancy the landlord must give at least two months' notice under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act. For notices - see Agreements & Forms
The notice cannot take effect for at least six months or until the original agreed term has expired.
Where the tenancy has become a periodic one the notice given must expire on the last day of a rent period. For example, if a monthly periodic tenancy rent day is the 20th of the month, the two month notice period must end on the 19th of the month in question.
There is nothing to say you cannot give more than two months' notice. Therefore a landlord could service a two month Section 21 notice soon after the granting of a six month term to take effect at the end of that term.

Confusing isn't it? So I would have said that you should give notice on or before 25th as this is the rent payment day, but the previous poster says it goes by the original start of the contract, the 9th? Either way, you have missed the boat for giving notice in August!

I was assuming the property to be in England and Wales and that your tenants are now on a period (rolling) contract, not fixed term.
.
Maybe you should post in Landlord zone and ask for a definitive answer, they have some legal people on there.

Boobydoo

Thank you JJLandlord.

I cannot seem to get my head around this too easily today!

So, can I just check that I'm doing this correctly? The Tenants pay on the 25th each month in arrears, so I ask them to leave by 7th October or 7th November?

We gave the tenant a month free and then they paid us £500 at the end of the following month so assume that isn't classed as a deposit.

And to finalise............... I send them a letter, but have to attach the S21(b)?

jjlandlord

Annabee wrote: »

Confusing isn't it? So I would have said that you should give notice on or before 25th as this is the rent payment day

This LLZ page is wrong.

Annabee wrote: »

Maybe you should post in Landlord zone and ask for a definitive answer, they have some legal people on there.

I think she did and got the same answer there.

DVardysShadow

Annabee wrote: »

.

Confusing isn't it? So I would have said that you should give notice on or before 25th as this is the rent payment day, but the previous poster says it goes by the original start of the contract, the 9th? Either way, you have missed the boat for giving notice in August!
.
Maybe you should post in Landlord zone and ask for a definitive answer, they have some legal people on there.

No need to post elsewhere, jjlandlord has given the correct answer.

jjlandlord

Boobydoo wrote: »

So, can I just check that I'm doing this correctly? The Tenants pay on the 25th each month in arrears, so I ask them to leave by 7th October or 7th November?

The notice must state "after 7th november".
See replies to your question on LLZ

Boobydoo wrote: »

then they paid us £500 at the end of the following month so assume that isn't classed as a deposit.

What did they pay these £500 for?

Boobydoo wrote: »

And to finalise............... I send them a letter, but have to attach the S21(b)?

Just send them the s21.

DVardysShadow

jjlandlord wrote: »

This LLZ page is wrong.

I think the quote is fine, provided you recognise the distinction between 'rent period' and 'rent due day'. The rent due day is irrelevant to giving notice - it is the end of the period paid by the rent given on the rent due day which matters.

Edit: I have re read it and I agree that it is not right,

jjlandlord

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I think the quote is fine, provided you recognise the distinction between 'rent period' and 'rent due day'. The rent due day is irrelevant to giving notice - it is the end of the period paid by the rent given on the rent due day which matters.

Well, right after mentioning "rent day" it goes on to give an example mentioning the "tenancy rent day", which I think clearly means "rent due day".

Very confusing wording at the very least...