Notice period for assured shorthold tenancy?

Charlton_King

In his tenancy agreement which a friend has just showed me, under 'termination' the wording runs:

The Tenant may not give less than 2 months prior written notice at any time to end this agreement...

The term of the agreement is 6 months.

I always thought a tenant only had to give his/her landlord a single month's notice. Does this 2 month figure only apply to the initial 6 months and then does the requirement drop to 1? Both my friend and I are confused! If the tenant can give 2 months notice within the first six months and therefore leave, say, at the end of the fourth month, what is the actual point/force of a 'six month' contract from a landlord's viewpoint..??

Knalchemist

Charlton_King wrote: »

In his tenancy agreement which a friend has just showed me, under 'termination' the wording runs:

The Tenant may not give less than 2 months prior written notice at any time to end this agreement...

The term of the agreement is 6 months.

I always thought a tenant only had to give his/her landlord a single month's notice. Does this 2 month figure only apply to the initial 6 months and then does the requirement drop to 1? Both my friend and I are confused! If the tenant can give 2 months notice within the first six months and therefore leave, say, at the end of the fourth month, what is the actual point/force of a 'six month' contract from a landlord's viewpoint..??

If you want to leave at the end of the 6 months, you have to notify your landlord, in writing, in the 4th month. Most tenancy agreements have a 2 month notice period.

IE my agreement for was 12 months, I had to notify the landlord in the 10th month that I was not staying.

There are times when you can leave early, such as if the landlord breaches the tenancy agreement, or if the landlord tells you they want to raise the rent within one mont of the tenancy ending, you can then give notice to end the tenancy.

Charlton_King

Knalchemist wrote: »

If you want to leave at the end of the 6 months, you have to notify your landlord, in writing, in the 4th month. Most tenancy agreements have a 2 month notice period.

IE my agreement for was 12 months, I had to notify the landlord in the 10th month that I was not staying.

There are times when you can leave early, such as if the landlord breaches the tenancy agreement, or if the landlord tells you they want to raise the rent within one mont of the tenancy ending, you can then give notice to end the tenancy.

Yes but my two questions remain:

1. The implication seems to be that you can give two months notice after, say, 3 months and then leave at the end of month 5. True?

2. Does the requirement drop to one month's notice after the initial 'term', or does it stay at two?

G_M

Knalchemist wrote: »

If you want to leave at the end of the 6 months, you have to notify your landlord, in writing, in the 4th month. Most tenancy agreements have a 2 month notice period.

IE my agreement for was 12 months, I had to notify the landlord in the 10th month that I was not staying.

There are times when you can leave early, such as if the landlord breaches the tenancy agreement, or if the landlord tells you they want to raise the rent within one mont of the tenancy ending, you can then give notice to end the tenancy.

Sorry - rubbish.

A 6 month tenancy is...fixed. By definition. At the end of the 6months it ends. (provided the tenant leaves- see link below)

Whatever the tenancy agreement says, NO notice is required.

It isof course sensible, helpful, and polite to discuss your plans with the landlord.

Now read this post:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

G_M

Charlton_King wrote: »

Yes but my two questions remain:

1. The implication seems to be that you can give two months notice after, say, 3 months and then leave at the end of month 5. True?
No. It is a 6month tenancy. You can leave when you want, but must pay rent for 6months.

2. Does the requirement drop to one month's notice after the initial 'term', or does it stay at two?

After the 6months, it becomes 'periodic' ('monthly' or 'rolling') The tenant must give 1 tenancy periods notice (NOT a month - see link above); the LL must give two.

Charlton_King

Ah, that makes more sense.

I'm intrigued that a 'tenancy period' could be something other than a calendar month... like what, for example..?

G_M

Charlton_King wrote: »

Ah, that makes more sense.

I'm intrigued that a 'tenancy period' could be something other than a calendar month... like what, for example..?

Read the link!

(sorry - I get fed up repeating myself here - not your fault!)

Knalchemist

G_M wrote: »

Sorry - rubbish.

A 6 month tenancy is...fixed. By definition. At the end of the 6months it ends. (provided the tenant leaves- see link below)

Whatever the tenancy agreement says, NO notice is required.

It isof course sensible, helpful, and polite to discuss your plans with the landlord.

Now read this post:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

Obviously a tenancy is fixed for the term. I was merely pointing out that if the OP wanted to leave, then his agreement is requiring him to give 2 months notice prior to the ending (IE in the 4th month at least).

I was unaware you didn't need to give any notice. I'm sure I read on the shelter website that you're required to give 28 days written notice at least?

Mulder00

Charlton_King wrote: »

Ah, that makes more sense.

I'm intrigued that a 'tenancy period' could be something other than a calendar month... like what, for example..?

Weekly is also quite popular in some areas...

G_M

Knalchemist wrote: »

Obviously a tenancy is fixed for the term. I was merely pointing out that if the OP wanted to leave, then his agreement is requiring him to give 2 months notice prior to the ending (IE in the 4th month at least).

I was unaware you didn't need to give any notice. I'm sure I read on the shelter website that you're required to give 28 days written notice at least?

If you did read this- it's wrong.

It would be a legal nonsence to require a tenant to give notice to end a tenancy that already has a fixed end date!

If the tenant fails to give notice, that does not alter the fact that the original contract stated the tenancy would end on xx date (ie after 6 months).

If a tenancy does NOT have a fixed end date eg

* it was set up as a Contractual Periodic Tenancy (which simply continues month by month [period by period] ) or
* it became a Statutory Periodic Tenancy after the initial fixed term had passed

THEN notice is required.

But again, the notice period for a SPT is fixed by law (Housing Act 1988 ) not by what is written in the tenancy agreement.(unless the TA specifically creates a CPT to follow the fixed term