Implication of changing rent due date?

skintandscared_2

Just wanted to ask a quick question please.

We moved into a rented property on 6th February 2010 on a 6 month tenancy. Our landlord merely used an agency to get a tenant - since that time, the agency have had nothing to do with the rental. At the beginning of August 2010 we agreed to carry on on a rolling tenancy (didn't want to pay £50 each just for a re-printed agreement with the date changed!)

The landlord has now decided to update his files and has offered us a year's further tenancy at the same rent. But the new agreement he's sent us is dated 30th August.

Now, I pay the rent by direct debit from my account on the 28th of the month and it probably takes 3-4 days to arrive in my landlord's account. We specifically moved in on the 6th of the month so our rent would arrive before it's actually due. If we sign an agreement for the 30th of the month, it is likely that our rent will now be late by 1-2 days every month. Could this potentially cause us any problems - for instance if the landlord suddenly decides he wants the flat back, could he use the excuse that we are consistently late in paying our rent??

I should add that the landlord is very "hands off" as regards our tenancy - he has never visited in the 18 months we've lived here and doesn't ever contact us. We keep the flat immaculate and pay our rent early every month. We've only ever had one problem we needed him to sort out and he did it on the same day we notified him. All in all, we give him no problems and he doesn't give us any either.

I'm inclined to ask the landlord to change the due date back to the 6th of the month so that we are early, as we were before. Or am I worrying about nothing? I don't want to rock the boat on a very happy arrangement all round, just want to make sure everything stays running smoothly.

Any views appreciated! Thanks.

G_M

The 30th August? 2011 or 2012? The former is past (contract cannot be back-dated) the latter is far too far in the future!

Assuming you want the security of a 12 month contract, you should agree a new start date. Since you moved in on 6th, you could suggest 6/10/11 which keeps your payments simple.

Or an earlier date. If an earlier date you can either

1) adjust you 1st rent payment down to allow for the fact that your final rent payment on your current Periodic tennacy took you into credit on the new fixed term (ie if new fixed term starts 20/9/11, then rent you paid on 6/9/11 took you to 5/10/11, so you only owe 6/10/11 to 19/10/11 - thereafter you pay full rent) OR

2) continue paying on 6th each month but bear in mind you will always be paying 2 weeks extra ahead, so when you come to leave you can deduct this amount from your final payment.

You need to talk this through with your LL.

skintandscared_2

Sorry, the contract we've received is dated 30 August 2011. When, actually, to follow on properly from our previous contract I suppose it should be dated 6th September (to be exactly 18 months from the start of our previous contract). But because we've been on a "rolling" contract for a year, I wondered if that mattered. But of course I don't want to lose out on the extra week either (the difference between the 30th and the 6th of the month)

when we moved in, we paid 2 months' rent as deposit (transferred from previous tenancy but topped up because previous rent was slightly lower) plus we paid 1 month's rent.

I know that when I paid the rent and it arrived, say, on 3rd September 2011, that was to pay for the rent from 6th September to 6th October 2011. I just want to ensure I'm not exposing us to problems if the date changes to 30th-30th and our rent goes through on the 2nd or 3rd of the month.

G_M

Forget the 2 months deposit. That is a red herring. That remains your deposit and will be returned to you when you leave (assuming you don't trash the place etc!).

You paid 1 month in advance, to cover from 6th to 5th of each month.

The new contract can start any time - it does not have to be 18 months or whatever from the original. And it does not have to start on the same date (6th).

But as I explained, if it starts on a different date (ie 20th) then you get overlap of rental periods. That does not matter, as long as both you and the LL understand what date you pay your rent each month and what period is covers.

So as I said it can be simpler to align with the existing dates.

skintandscared_2

Thank you. Yes, I get that we basically forget the deposit until we leave (no worries there, I'm an OCD cleaner and OH is a decorator, so we've never lost a penny in deposits!!)

So, if we sign a new agreement dated 30th, we have a week "in hand". If I can move it to 6th, then we're as we were. I do understand that.

My worry is that if we go with 30th, my rent (despite being SENT from my bank on 28th) may not arrive until 1st/2nd, and we will be 1 or 2 days late. Could the landlord ever use that against us??!!

may_fair

skintandscared wrote: »

We moved into a rented property on 6th February 2010 on a 6 month tenancy.

Assuming this is an assured shorthold tenancy in England/Wales, and the fixed term commenced on 6th February 2010, you now have a periodic tenancy with tenancy periods running 6th - 5th of the month.

The landlord has now decided to update his files and has offered us a year's further tenancy at the same rent. But the new agreement he's sent us is dated 30th August.

Now, I pay the rent by direct debit from my account on the 28th of the month and it probably takes 3-4 days to arrive in my landlord's account. We specifically moved in on the 6th of the month so our rent would arrive before it's actually due. If we sign an agreement for the 30th of the month, it is likely that our rent will now be late by 1-2 days every month.

Only if the rent is payable on the 30th of the month. It's entirely possible for the new fixed term to commence on 30th August but for the contract to specify that rent is payable on the 6th of the month, as it is now. If you decided to vacate at fixed term expiry on 29th August 2012, then you would only have to pay a pro-rata sum for the period 6th - 29th August 2012 as the last rent payment.

Negotiate the terms of the new contract with the LL so that you're both happy with it - you've no obligation to sign up to a new fixed term and if you're not happy having rent payable on the 30th, then say so.