Rental property - I returned keys late to Landlord

Puflet

Official MoneySavingExpert Insert:

Hi everyone, we now have a full Renting Tips guide you may find helpful.

Back to Puflet's original post...

----

Greetings, everyone!

I moved out of my rental property on 15/4/16 to a place 200 miles away. I sent the keys back to the landlord at the beginning of the week, and he texted me today confirming that he'd received them - but would be counting today as the last day of my tenancy.

I'm assuming he intends to charge me rent for the period between 15/4/16 - 21/4/16.

Is he entitled to do this? I know some tenancy agreements actually stipulate that this will happen if there's a time lag between the two, but mine does not.

I also know that he held a set of keys to the property and therefore access for him would not have been an issue.

Can anyone shed any light? Any info gratefully received!

dc197

His point might not be about him not being able to access the property. It might be about you still being able to access it. You had not surrendered the keys and still technically had access (despite moving away).
What notice did you give, when was rent day, and when did the tenancy official end?

anselld

Did you confirm to the L on the 15th that you had vacated (hence just a matter of missing keys)?

Or did the arrival of the keys on the doormat confirm your departure (in which case the L would be unsure if you had actually vacated until the keys arrived)?

Puflet

I'd given notice to the landlord that I'd be ending the tenancy on April 15th; this was a date which he and I had agreed beforehand (I'd given five weeks notice rather than the one month stipulated in my contract).

I confirmed that I'd vacated the property via text on the 15th, along with the message that I'd send the keys recorded delivery asap.

Purely coincidentally, I bumped into the landlord and his partner at an event on April 16th and confirmed that I'd left, cleaned the place and moved into my new property.

HappyMJ

Puflet wrote: »

I'd given notice to the landlord that I'd be ending the tenancy on April 15th; this was a date which he and I had agreed beforehand (I'd given five weeks notice rather than the one month stipulated in my contract).

I confirmed that I'd vacated the property via text on the 15th, along with the message that I'd send the keys recorded delivery asap.

Purely coincidentally, I bumped into the landlord and his partner at an event on April 16th and confirmed that I'd left, cleaned the place and moved into my new property.

Sending texts does not end tenancies. There is no way to know you are the genuine sender of the text. Someone else could have sent the text on your behalf so the text message itself is just information it cannot be relied upon to form or end contracts. You need to type up a letter print it off or hand write a letter and put your signature on the document then hand it to your landlord. That signature should match the one on your tenancy agreement and that's what ensures you have ended your tenancy.

You could have left the keys at the property by posting them back through the door when you left for the final time.

It doesn't matter the return of the keys or the failure to ever return the keys doesn't end the tenancy it's your other actions.

If you "bump" into your next landlord after leaving then get the LL to sign something with you which will give you the proof you need to show the tenancy has actually ended.

pinkshoes

dc197 wrote: »

His point might not be about him not being able to access the property. It might be about you still being able to access it. You had not surrendered the keys and still technically had access (despite moving away).
What notice did you give, when was rent day, and when did the tenancy official end?

If the OP sent the keys tracked, then they could prove that they no longer had them.

I think the LL is taking the p*ss! If the LL wanted the keys posting, they could have specified this when they agreed the move out day.

theartfullodger

Presumably landlord proposes to deduct £££ from deposit.

Tell him you don't agree & will be raising a dispute..

Who gave what notice to whom? Are there new tenants in residence?

davidmcn

pinkshoes wrote: »

If the OP sent the keys tracked, then they could prove that they no longer had them.

No, it would just prove that they had posted something.

And in any event the OP might have copied the keys - at most I think all the LL can claim for is not having use of an extra set of keys for a few days.

ThePants999

The OP said that correct notice was given to end the tenancy on April 15th. The tenancy surely therefore ended on April 15th, and the trivial matter of who had possession of one of the keys to the property when is surely entirely irrelevant!?

Southerner3000

Surely contract law stipulates that offer and acceptance is ascertained from when a letter is posted, not received.


Therefore the tenancy ended from when you sent the keys?