Tenant given notice mid month, how much rent should they pay?

vinuela13

Hi
Our tenant has give notice and said they want to leave asap as they have seen something else they want to move into.
They are on a periodic monthly lease and they pay monthly at the beginning of the month.
There contract states that they should give one months notice.
I am in the process of calculating the last months payment and I just wanted some clarification on this.
Do they pay pro rata for the part month which will take them up to the end of the tenancy.
For example they pay on the 2nd of each month and with the months notice the tenancy will end on the 14th. Should they be expected to pay for 12 days even if they wish to leave early

Thanks in advance

MSaxp

No, he will have to pay for another full month and have the property for another full tenancy month. when they pay rent is irrelevant, what matters is the tenancy periods. I.e. if the fixed term ended on the 12th of a month and rent is paid monthly, the periods are 13th to the 12th. So he has to give notice before the 13th and pay up to the following 12th.

You are free to agree anything else you like to help him out, if you wish.

thesaint

They do not pay pro-rata in normal circumstances, but if the tenancy agreement you supplied mistakenly states that they only have to give a months notice, you may have problems.

[Deleted User]

If the contract stipulates they must provide a period of notice, that means they have to provide one full period (start to finish), not the value of one period spread over multiple. For example if the rental period is from the 2nd of each month and they give notice today their tenancy would end on March 1st because the final full period start would be February 2nd.

You could let them end the tenancy on the 14th and only charge them 12 days, but you have every legal right to enforce that they pay up until March 1st -- assuming they provide notice today.

poppysarah

But until they hand keys back and surrender the property they owe rent...

whalster

As said above they owe one full months rental period fom the start date on the tenancy, this has meant effectively two months notice on occasion that tenants have missed giving notice to me by a day or two .
This said there is nothing stopping them moving out at any time into a new property but they are still liable for any rent due and utilities ,if an exemption excises in your area for council tax then they will be entitled to this .

What I usually say to tenants in this situation is if I find a tenant who wants the property and wants to move in before they handover then I will refund the part months rent , I think this is a fair way of doing it .

Be sure to get them to sign that they have moved out if it's before the end of their term though .

Guest101

diddlyidi wrote: »

Hi
Our tenant has give notice and said they want to leave asap as they have seen something else they want to move into.
They are on a periodic monthly lease and they pay monthly at the beginning of the month.
There contract states that they should give one months notice.
I am in the process of calculating the last months payment and I just wanted some clarification on this.
Do they pay pro rata for the part month which will take them up to the end of the tenancy.
For example they pay on the 2nd of each month and with the months notice the tenancy will end on the 14th. Should they be expected to pay for 12 days even if they wish to leave early

Thanks in advance

Mostly the advice above is correct, however when they pay rent is irrelevant. It depends on when the tenancy started, check the date it started. If it was the 15th, they owe u nothing. The 20th, they owe u 5 days etc

SerialRenter

Worth noting that both parties can agree to end the tenancy at any point, so whilst it might be financially advantageous for you to receive payment for whole month, you are more than capable of charging them pro-rata if you wished.

Depends how much you like them

G_M

It is entirely up to you when you allow the tenants to surrender the tenancy.

If they have been good tenants, and are now buying, or renting elsewhere, why not be flexible? It is difficult for purchasers to coordinate their purchase date with their tenancy end date, but a landlord can make life hugely easier for their tenant at relatively little cost to himself.

A bit of goodwill.........?

But if you want to follow the strict rules:

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?)

vinuela13

thesaint wrote: »

They do not pay pro-rata in normal circumstances, but if the tenancy agreement you supplied mistakenly states that they only have to give a months notice, you may have problems.

Thank you for your response. I have just checked the tenancy agreement and it doesn't state anywhere about giving notice.Is this OK?

vinuela13

Just one other quick question.They have notified me by text but I have asked them to put it in an email, is this fair?