Double rent/mortgage payments! How much notice do we have to give our landlord?

rapattaque

We have just bought our first flat, but the exchange and completion were on consecutive days last week and we could not give our notice on our current tenancy until then (29th of May, three days after our rent date). I gave one months notice the day we completed using the template letter on this website, but the estate agent has come back saying:

"In accordance with the attached tenancy agreement, Clause 7.6 states that two months notice is required to terminate this tenancy to expire on the anniversary of the rent due date this being 26th July 2014 as the next opportunity of notice.

You may vacate at any time up to the 26th July 2014 and must continue to pay the rent, bills and other tenant liabilities during this time.

We can offer to re-let the property for you to minimise your rental outlay between the date of departure and the notice expiry of the 26th July 2014. You will have to pay rent until new tenants move in or until the 26th July 2014 whichever is soonest. There will also be a re-letting fee to pay if we find new tenants to move in before the 26th July 2014. This is charged at 10% plus VAT of the monthly rent. For example, if new tenants move in on the 26th June 2014 you pay £119.40 (1 month @ £995pcm x 10% +20%VAT).
."

When we moved in, the estate agent verbally agreed we could move on to a rolling contract after one year. They dragged their feet on this when a year came up and were pretty useless about it, ignoring e-mails and phone calls. We then got an e-mail confirming we were on a rolling contract, but never signed or dated anything and we're both too busy to follow it up. I just rechecked the e-mail and that says we need to give two months notice too. But having given in our notice, three days after our rent day, it is now effectively three months we have to pay rent and mortgage payments simultaneously.

If you've read this far, thank you, and is there anything we can do about this?!

jamie11

If you are now in a statutory periodic tenancy then you only have to give sufficient notice to include one period of that tenancy (one month plus whatever days are left of this month).

Don't be bullied by an agent.

00ec25

you are in a Statutory Periodic Tenancy - the fact you signed nothing is irrelevant and the agents quoting a clause in a tenancy agreement relating to termination notice is completely wrong since the whole point of an SPT is that statute sets out the notice periods and completely replaces whatever was said in the original contract

under an SPT you have to give 1 rental period notice so the date of that depends on the dates of your rental period which may or may not have any relation to the rent due date.
To give an accurate answer you need to confirm the exact date your tenancy started, not the date you first paid rent.
For example if the tenancy started on the 27th of the month then your rental period would be 27th to 26th of each month, so you must give (ie they receive) notice on or before the 27th of May and vacate by the 26th of June. Give notice after the 27th of May and you have not given 1 month's notice so will be liable until the 25th of July

G_M

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?)

claireabelle_2

I had this issue as well, they tried to bully me. Shelter website helped, the estate agent was very grumpy.
They then dragged their feet over the deposit being returned, taking about two months, just to be awkward!