Giving notice on Fixed term Tennancy : NEW Q FOR CLARIFICATION!

jhsam

Hopefully you guys can help, more with the legal facts of things so that if the Agents try to spin us a yarn we can respond with the actual law. The LL is brilliant, but he lets a Letting Agent run the property and they are pretty crap, we had a do with them years ago as they wanted a 6 months fixed contract and to be paid £60 to renew every 6 months, we requested 12 months and they said no they don't do them etc....eventually managed to speak to LL who told the to give us what we requested.

Anyway here are the circumstances :-

We have a Fixed Term 12 month Contract which ends 29th May every year, we were hoping to give notice on 29th April (well a few days before actually) as we are buying our own place and we were hoping exchange of contracts would be done by then, it is looking increasingly unlikley that this will happen and I don't want to give notice until we have at least exchanged. Usually, around this time of year, we would receive a letter from the agents with a date/time for them to come and inspect the property, take our £60 and we sign new contracts. When that letter comes what is my best course of action....we have approached them before about a rolling tennancy and they said No if you don't sign a new fixed contract you can't stay so, do I ignore the letter as if we are going to keep the inspection they have booked then nearer the time give them notice to leave on 29th June (if it's all sorted by then!), and if it's not sorted advise them at this point we won't be re signing there for forcing them to either wait for notice or issue us 2 months, or do I inform them straight away that we will not be signing a new contract but insist I am not giving notice just now, and then in effect force them either in to a rolling tennancy or the option of them giving us 2 months notice?

I am confused, and I don't want to get stressed out about it!

molerat

(Assuming England/Wales) By doing nothing at the end of your fixed term you automatically go onto a rolling monthly contract. The LL then has to give you 2 months notice.

m0bov

Do nothing and drop onto a SAT. Then give your 2 months notice when you have exchanged. Not before!

Its likely the agent will S21 you if you don't cough up. But you still have two months before they start court action.

jhsam

Yes sorry I am in England.

So if I ignore the letter re the inspection, ring up the day before the inspection and advise that we won't be re-signing, if / when they say we need to leave, they will then at this point have to issue us with 2 months notice (giving us breathing room!) is that correct?

Oh and if they give us 2 months notice, and then we exchange, assume we are ok to counter the 2 months notice and give them 1 months notice to leave?

thanks for the information guys

G_M

To leave on 29th May you do not need to give any notice - you can just move out. It's a Fixed Term, so it ends if you leave. Of course, it is polite, and helpful, to give the LL advance warning, but not legally required.

If you stay to the 30th, without signing a new fixed term, you'll move to a Statutory Periodic Tenancy. this is automatic and needs no agreement or signature.

you then have o give a 'tenancy period' notice (between 1 and 2 months if you pay rent monthly).

Read

* 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?

DRP

I would speak to the LL too, if he you have a good relationship.

You don't want to sour it, by leaving it to the agent to tell the LL you are making problems...

booksurr

m0bov wrote: »

Do nothing and drop onto a SAT. Then give your 2 months notice when you have exchanged. Not before!

Its likely the agent will S21 you if you don't cough up. But you still have two months before they start court action.

it is the LL who has to give 2 months notice.

SAT? you mean SPT (Statutory Periodic Tenancy)
once in a SPT the tenant has to give 1 months notice aligned with the rental period dates (which may not be the same as the rent payment dates)

jhsam

[FONT=&quot]Thanks everyone. Unfortunately we don't have the landlords number anymore and I am sure the address for him on the contract is a C/O address for the agents (I will double check tonight) so even though we would like to contact him and give him the heads up, I don't think it's possible.

So we pay the rent on 1st of the month (used to be 29th same as the contract end but we changed it to 1st) and contract ends 29th of the month, we paid a month in advance, so say everything went to plan and we exchange on, let’s say 10th May as an example date plucked out the air, At this point I can then write to the L/A and give them notice to vacate the property on 29th May, and our last payment will have been the one that went out on 1st May?? Is that right??[/FONT]

Pixie5740

If your contract started 29th then it ends on 28th.

jhsam

guys just to clarify as I am getting antsy about this and the bloody house still hasn't exchanged!

I have read the link from G_M which was very helpful and if I read it correctly then it means when our FT contract ends on 29th May, and we contact the agents and say we will not be signing a new contract, they can not force us to leave on the 29th when it ends can they?? Even though the contact ends on that date, do they still need to issue a S21 to get us to leave if we refuse to sign a new contract??

I am just pre-emting their dodgy antics, I KNOW they will say we HAVE to leave at the end if we are not re-signing, so I need to know that I can say "no you need to issue a S21 if you are not happy for us to go on to an AST rolling contract and then we will give you 1 months notice when we are ready"

So for example, what will happen is, we will get a letter with a date (usually about 24th may it's booked in for) for inspection and re-sign of new contract, we will do nothing about it until a few days before (say 20th May) at which point we will ring the agent and explain we will not be signing a new contract as we are buying a house etc and waiting for completion and we will give 1 months notice when we are ready to vacate (i.e we have exchanged / completed!) - if they accept this, then great, all is good and things can carry on. If they don't accept this (which I'm pre-empting to be the case) they can either try and pull a fast one and say ok you need to leave at the end of the contract on 29th May and I can then counter with, no you need to issue a S21 for us to leave, OR they just say they will be getting an S21 so we effectivly have 2 months to ensure the house is sorted. << IS that right??

Guest101

jhsam wrote: »

guys just to clarify as I am getting antsy about this and the bloody house still hasn't exchanged!

I have read the link from G_M which was very helpful and if I read it correctly then it means when our FT contract ends on 29th May, and we contact the agents and say we will not be signing a new contract, they can not force us to leave on the 29th when it ends can they?? Even though the contact ends on that date, do they still need to issue a S21 to get us to leave if we refuse to sign a new contract??

I am just pre-emting their dodgy antics, I KNOW they will say we HAVE to leave at the end if we are not re-signing, so I need to know that I can say "no you need to issue a S21 if you are not happy for us to go on to an AST rolling contract and then we will give you 1 months notice when we are ready"

So for example, what will happen is, we will get a letter with a date (usually about 24th may it's booked in for) for inspection and re-sign of new contract, we will do nothing about it until a few days before (say 20th May) at which point we will ring the agent and explain we will not be signing a new contract as we are buying a house etc and waiting for completion and we will give 1 months notice when we are ready to vacate (i.e we have exchanged / completed!) - if they accept this, then great, all is good and things can carry on. If they don't accept this (which I'm pre-empting to be the case) they can either try and pull a fast one and say ok you need to leave at the end of the contract on 29th May and I can then counter with, no you need to issue a S21 for us to leave, OR they just say they will be getting an S21 so we effectivly have 2 months to ensure the house is sorted. << IS that right??

You're over thinking this, learn to say 'no, thank you'.

Here's the example:
Agent: if you're not renewing you need to leave.
you: No, thank you.
Agent: you have to leave.
You: No, thank you
Agent: if you dont leave.....<enter threat>
You: are you threatening me with illegal eviction? I'm calling the police.
Agent: No, no, no, that's not what i'm saying.
You: Good, then we will move onto the Statutory Periodic Tenancy as defined by legislation. good day sir/madam.