AST question (end of contract)

c-m

Hi I currently rent a property (well a room) from a private landlord. I have an Assured Short Hold tenancy agreement for 6months signed on 30th September 2006.

The six months is nearly up and I have recently paid the rent, to take me upto the end of the contract.

I am considering moving out upon completetion of the contract. However do i need to give the landlord a period of notice at all?

so far the lanlord has not had any contact with me, if i decided to stay would the contract run on a month by month basis?

Generali

Pretty sure you need to give a months notice, even at the end of the contract. I guess it's the decent thing to do even if it's not legally required.

thesaint

When you say that you are renting a room, are there others in the house/flat with you?

ajaxgeezer

C-M, if you stay on a day past the date of the end of the agreement then you enter a rolling month-by-month contract. if you hand in the keys on the last day then you are entitled to just walk away... you have fulfilled your contract.

Out of courtesy, would you not feel it was fair to the landlord to tell him you are moving on? If you are leaving without saying so just to annoy him, be careful about the condition and the inventory... he will have your deposit and the ability to create breakages He does not have to return your deposit immediately, he can return it anytime within 28 days of the end of the agreement.

If he had any sense he'd have contacted you with two months to go before the end of your lease as this is the statutory period of notice that he has to give you.

Hope this clears the picture up.

cheers,
Martin

ajaxgeezer

Also, if you enter a month-by-month contract then you will again be obliged to give (and pay) one month notice.

c-m

thanks guys. If i was moving out i woudl of course contact the landlord, the reason I asked was becasue if i do move out I would have had enough time to give a full months notice, more like 25 days or so.

By the way I am renting a room in a house shared with randoms who i imagine all have their own contract as i do.

ajaxgeezer

LOL @ 'randoms'.

I'd make your mind up as soon as poss if I were you C-M. It could get very messy if you decide late in the piece to stay and the landlord thinks you were off. If any of my tenants were to do that, I wouldn't be too happy about it. Having said that, I always sort it out 2 months before the AST expiry date anyway. :A

While the onus is really on the landlord to sort things out, common sense works both ways.

cheers,
Martin