Landlord not renewing contract on house.

G_M

1) if the tenant and landlord agree, the tenancy can end on any date they want. For safety, get the agreement in writing signed by both.

2) if the tenant wants to leave, he can do so on 31st March without notice

3) or tenant can wait till 1st April and then serve a full tenancy period notice which will end on 31st May.

4) Arguably, tenant could serve notice on 1st April to end tenancy on 30th April but there is some uncertainty about the law here

5) if the LL wants the tenant to leave, he cannot serve a S21 Notice until he first returns the full deposit, since he has failed to register it in a scheme. Payment of the deposit monthly is no excuse.

6) A valid S21 (1)(b) Notice must give 2 calender months notice (irrespective of the fixed term ending).

7) A S8 Notice ground 1 can only be used if " Not later than the beginning of the tenancy the landlord gave notice in writing to the tenant that possession might be recovered on this ground

* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

harveybobbles

The house was the landlords main and only home until he had to move away to Australia with work in 2010 and he wanted to rent the house out rather than sell it.

Yes, they signed a new tennancy each year for 12 months.

The garden gates blew down 13 months ago and tennants reported this to the landlord. This tied in with the landlord visiting the UK for 4 weeks (first time since leaving) and he gave the tennans the money to sort them out after getting quotes.

To this day the gates havent been sorted, despite being asked several times, so could a Section 8 be used for failing to keep the property in good order?

I think they should just do a mutual Early Surrender and look elesewhere to live.

G_M

harveybobbles wrote: »

The house was the landlords main and only home until he had to move away to Australia with work in 2010 and he wanted to rent the house out rather than sell it.
" Not later than the beginning of the tenancy the landlord gave notice in writing to the tenant that possession might be recovered on this ground" Yes or no?

Yes, they signed a new tennancy each year for 12 months.

The garden gates blew down 13 months ago and tennants reported this to the landlord. This tied in with the landlord visiting the UK for 4 weeks (first time since leaving) and he gave the tennans the money to sort them out after getting quotes.

To this day the gates havent been sorted, despite being asked several times, so could a Section 8 be used for failing to keep the property in good order?
Wow! First time I've come across this issue. I guess at best the tenants owe the LL the money. Potentially S8 ground 13 could be used, but it's discretionary and I doubt a court would order eviction on the basis of the gates only. But it's possible.
Or fraud? Deliberately taking money with no intention of spending it as agreed...?

I think they should just do a mutual Early Surrender and look elesewhere to live.

Surely it's their decision, not yours?

You role (sorry - this is how I see it) is to explain their options to them.....

harveybobbles

The money for repairs was put in the LL's bank this week apparently.

I'm just trying to gather as much info as possible for both parties.

harveybobbles

Update, 17th..

LL have emailed tennants giving them a move out date of May 1st but have said they will wave Aprils rent as a gesture.

So that gives them 6 weeks and two days.

Pixie5740

harveybobbles wrote: »

Update, 17th..

LL have emailed tennants giving them a move out date of May 1st but have said they will wave Aprils rent as a gesture.

So that gives them 6 weeks and two days.

Big wow. Waving April's rent do not mean the LL can cut short the amount of notice the T is legally entitled to. Even if the LL got the timing of the notice correct it would still be invalid unless the full deposit was returned to the T before notice was issued. Did you forward the link to G_M's guide to your cousin?

Maybe the T will go for it but then again maybe the T will think poke it and drag this out for as long as possible.

Your cousin sounds absolutely clueless as a LL and it makes me wonder what else he/she has not been doing i.e. declaring rental income to HMRC, gas safety certificates, providing T with an address in England or Wales for the serving of notices (note that without this the T can legally withhold rent).

nomoneytoday

IMHO it's family, and you've reached a compromise with a month's free rent. Time to move?

Pixie5740

nomoneytoday wrote: »

IMHO it's family, and you've reached a compromise with a month's free rent. Time to move?

It's not family. The OP's cousin is the LL and the OP's friend is the T.

The LL trying to ride roughshod over the T's statutory rights is not a compromise although there's always a chance that the T might go for it.

The LL has got themselves into this pickle by not being professional from the start. A T who couldn't afford to pay the deposit in one go from the start, no thanks, the LL should have waited to find a better T. No T is better than a bad T after all.

harveybobbles

All income has been declared, gas safety inspections have been done each year and everything else has been fine.

The bond/deposit being done that way as the tennant found themselves homeless and needed somewhere to live - council had nothing suitable that was vacant and my cousins house was sat there empty.