Tenancy Dis-Agreement

ACM1994

Hello,

I moved into a flat a year ago on a 6 month contract, and then kept it rolling until now. I requested to move out on the 18th January for the 18th February, and my billing period is the 11th of each month. My agency is now asking that I pay the rent on the 11th February, but I am willing to move out on the 11th February.

Can you please advise if the agency is able to do this and if I have any way of avoiding paying another months' rent for a maximum of a weeks' rental?

Thanks,
Adam

Pixie5740

Is this property in England or Wales?

What date did your tenancy start on? Was it the 11th January 2014?

See also Ending an AST.

derbyshirenick

You will need to look in your agreement as to what you signed up to.

Generally though it is indeed common practice for agreements to insist notice is given in alignment with the rental month.

So say you pay on the 15th of the month you would give notice now of one month effective from the 15th of feb meaning it ends on the 15th of March.

This can be a P.I.T.A. I know....

ACM1994

Hi,

This is in England and it started on the 11th January 2014.

Thanks,
Adam

Pixie5740

Assuming you pay your rent monthly, then your tenancy periods go from the 11th of the month to the 10th of the following month. You need to give 1 full rental period of notice so to end your tenancy on 10th February you would have to have served notice before 11th January.

You serving notice on 18th January will end your tenancy 10th March. So your LL is correct and the LA is correct that legally rent is due 11th February.

Your best bet is to speak with your LL, explain that you were confused and hope that he allows you to end your tenancy 10th February otherwise you'll need to pay rent on 11th February.

princeofpounds

When you get billed is of little relevance to anything.

What matters is the rental periods, which start on the tenancy start date. If I correctly understand this to be the 11th of the month, then if you leave on 18th Feb you will owe rent for the entire period of 11th Feb - 10 March.

Rent is not divisible by more than montly periods (google "apportionment of rent" - there are only rare exceptions), so if you use one day of a period, you owe the whole period. Although it is common for LLs and Ts to agree by negotiation to not charge for whole months.

Then as far as billing goes, you just need to make sure you have paid rent for every period you have occupied the tenancy.

G_M

princeofpounds wrote: »

Then as far as billing goes, you just need to make sure you have paid rent for every period [STRIKE]you have occupied the tenancy[/STRIKE]the tenancy existed.

'occupation' of the property is not relevant....

So say you pay on the 15th of the month you would give notice now of one month effective from the 15th of feb meaning it ends on the 15th of March.

the date rent is paid is irrelevant. It is the date each tenancy period starts/ends that matters. That may be the same, or may not.

Pixie's post 5 sums up well.

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?)

princeofpounds

'occupation' of the property is not relevant....

I didn't mean occupying the property, I literally did mean the tenancy.

I suppose occupying wasn't the best word to use, so I am happy to used your proposed correction!

ACM1994

Great, thanks for your help everyone. Hopefully I can get this sorted with the agency :-).

derbyshirenick

G_M wrote: »

'occupation' of the property is not relevant....
the date rent is paid is irrelevant. It is the date each tenancy period starts/ends that matters. That may be the same, or may not.

Good point. I left out that particular caveat as not to confuse the situation further for the OP. To be fair I have never known a letting where somebody doesn't pay the months rent on the first day of each period. But I am sure they do exist. People wanting to pay on payday and so on or where the process is manual and not just dictated by the DD setup at the start of the tenancy.

Herbalus

derbyshirenick wrote: »

People wanting to pay on payday and so on or where the process is manual and not just dictated by the DD setup at the start of the tenancy.

Unless to an established business, payments won't by made via direct debits, but rather standing orders. The key difference is that a direct debit is controlled by the company that takes the money, which can be a variable amount, whereas a standing order is a fixed amount and is sent by the payer.