Tenancy notice period and completion date

glocal

Apologies for the long-ish message. It is getting a little panicky here :eek:

I am buying a flat and with the exchange approaching I thought I would look at my tenancy agreement for the flat I am renting to see how I will terminate it. My 12 month contract expires on 20 April and, as I was looking to buy, last time I renewed I asked for a break clause to be included. That allows either party to end the tenancy at any point 'providing 2 months notice is served in line with the rent due date'. Somehow, I was convinced that was 1 month notice :eek:

What happens now? People buy property and have to terminate tenancies all the time, and I am sure many will not even have a break clause. How does this work out with the agent/landlord? I would like to think that in such circumstances it is common practice for agents to advertise the property and replace one tenant with another -- in the current climate, that could be within hours.

This is probably a naive question, but how is the notice period calculated? Suppose the rent is due on the 20th of the month. Then suppose I give a 2 month notice on 10 February. When does the tenancy end? 9 April or 19 April? (ie after about 60 days or 2 rent periods?)

Finally, I am asked to agree a completion date and I have no experience with the procedure. My vendors are pushing for completion within a few days. I can understand why a seller would want a completion date as close to exchange as possible. I would guess that in most cases, buyers having to give notice to their landlord and trying to avoid paying for two properties for several weeks would want a completion 3-4 weeks after exchange. How is this usually resolved?

Many thanks in advance.

anselld

With hindsight you should not have renewed but gone onto a statutory periodic tenancy which would be 1 rental period notice. 2 months in line with rent due would imply 2 rental periods so 19th April in your example, though note that you can leave at the end of the fixed term without notice.

You are right not to give notice until exchange of contracts, however that will leave you with an overlap. You can try to negotiate early surrender, but it is just a negotiation, you are liable to the end.

If a new tenant is found you are entitled to refund of rent once they move in as the property must not be rented to two people at the same time.

Regarding exchange you have slightly more control but again it is negotiation. You could ask for 8 weeks and vendor could pull the plug. However 4 weeks is reasonably normal 3-4 days is not normal. Ask your solicitor to exchange before the 19th but with as long to complete as possible.

If you do give notice make sure it is served correctly in writing (on paper) at "the address for serving notices" given on your agreement.

zzzLazyDaisy

Your obligation to your landlord is set out in your tenancy agreement. He has no obligation to help you with regard to your house purchase. Some will, but ultimately you signed and agreed to the terms of the tenancy.

Two months' notice is two rental periods. However, it may be worth speaking to the landlord - despite my comments above, it is possible that s/he may agree to accept one month's notice. You have nothing to lose by asking.

With regard to your purchase, it is usually a couple of weeks between exchange and completion. But that can vary from having exchange and completion on the same day, to (in the case of new builds) having several months between exchange and completion. It is up to you to negotiate with the seller, through your solicitor, for a period which suits both of you.

With a two month notice period on the rented flat, and a seller looking for an early completion, you could be looking at some overlap.

Dx

glocal

Thank you both. You confirmed what I feared but now I know where I am standing. So, I will have to talk to my landlord. I will be very surprised if he declines. The agreement is there to protect him in the worst case scenario, but I don't see how replacing one tenant with another affects him. Finding another tenant in the centre of Manchester takes days or even hours, not months. The only negative for him is perhaps that he will have to pay agency fees earlier than expected, so I could offer to contribute towards that if necessary. The agency will be happy either way!

Everything will have to be done very quickly to avoid missing the rent due date. Otherwise, it becomes almost 3 months notice! But I am sure even that is negotiable if there are potential tenants who will of course pay more than me too.

If all else fails, I think the vendors will have to accept that I cannot afford 2-3 months overlap. If they are in a hurry they have the option to pay some of that cost -- they delayed things by over one month after all.

I hope all this makes sense.