Tenancy Renewal - Don't want to ruin landlord relationship

System

Hello! Thanks again for all these replies. In my time as a private tenant i have never ever been on a periodic/rolling contract. Generally because the letting agent makes a small fee every time I renew so they usually insist. In this matter however I would be signing to a no-break contract that legally ties me to my property for 12 months with a LL unwilling to let me leave. I was mostly asking other LL's in this position if they would negotiate for a 6 month contract for a decent tenant rather than the full 12.

Guest101

sauceoclock wrote: »

Hello! Thanks again for all these replies. In my time as a private tenant i have never ever been on a periodic/rolling contract. Generally because the letting agent makes a small fee every time I renew so they usually insist. In this matter however I would be signing to a no-break contract that legally ties me to my property for 12 months with a LL unwilling to let me leave. I was mostly asking other LL's in this position if they would negotiate for a 6 month contract for a decent tenant rather than the full 12.

There's an estimated 1.57 million landlords in the UK. The response of even 100 forum using landlords will have absolutely no influence or effect on your landlord.

franklee

sauceoclock wrote: »

Yesterday I was informed (through means I won’t expand on) my LL told my letting agency (they do not manage the property, just vet tenants and provide the AST’s) unless I sign another 12 month AST with no break clause next March they are not to renew my tenancy.

How you were told matters. If it was just on the grapevine from your contact at the agent's then I don't see you have a problem, you do not need a renewal as a periodic tenancy will arise automatically if you are still resident once the fixed term ends. Clearly you are a good tenant and the landlord aims to keep letting the property far at least the next 12 months so maybe he is just trying to avoid the renewal fee every six months.

The time to start being concerned is when you are served a section 21 notice requiring possession. Then you would need to check it's valid (deposit regs met, renting booklet served etc.). Thinking about it logically why would a landlord evict a known good tenant just to replace them with an unknown tenant and a possible empty period in between? It may be his mortgage or insurance wants a fixed term but even then you know a six month fixed term has been on offer before ...

FBaby

Yesterday I was informed (through means I won’t expand on) my LL told my letting agency (they do not manage the property, just vet tenants and provide the AST’s) unless I sign another 12 month AST with no break clause next March they are not to renew my tenancy

That's hearsay. If the landlord is managing the property, than the agency has nothing to do with it at this point.

As it's been said, do nothing now. When they come to sign another contract, explain your situation and that you would rather have 6 months. If they refuse, then ignore them and they will issue a S21 for you to go in 2 months. You can ignore that too, although at this stage, it could be come stressful, having to go to court, potentially having to pay some costs, and then you might find them becoming much more difficult when it comes to getting your full deposit back, so you may find looking to move elsewhere in that timescale less stressful.

G_M

Look- you appear to know that the LL will insist on a 12 month renewal without break clause.

If you are right (we don't know how you know) then clearly he is being dogmatic. so as guest and pixie have said, there is no point in discussing a 6 month contract, far less a periodic one.

Regular posters will know I am generally an advocate of the (copyrighted) 'G_M Tea&Cake' approach - ie to sit down in a friendly manner and reach an amicable agreement. But if your secret source is correct, then this is pointless.

The law has been explained to you, with a ueful link (though I say so myself!).

As suggested, do/say nothing.

MonkeyDr

I agree with all the advice given above.

But FWIW I let out a flat and would absolutely be open to an existing decent tenant signing for a shorter fixed term or moving onto a rolling contract.

What would really annoy me would be a lack of honest communication.

System

MonkeyDr wrote: »

I agree with all the advice given above.

But FWIW I let out a flat and would absolutely be open to an existing decent tenant signing for a shorter fixed term or moving onto a rolling contract.

What would really annoy me would be a lack of honest communication.

Thanks, I am very honest with him! We've got a pretty good tenant/landlord relationship. I'll let it cool down a bit and next time he's over for a repair/inspection etc. I'll broach the subject with him.

AdrianC

sauceoclock wrote: »

I signed a 12 month AST in March ’16 (was 6 months but I asked for 12, for security for personal reasons) I asked my LL recently if he’d consider me breaking my AST 3 months early...

You explicitly requested 12mo instead of 6, for "security", then decided you wanted to move after 9...?

Not the best of ways to get the landlord on your side, is it?

Yesterday I was informed (through means I won’t expand on) my LL told my letting agency (they do not manage the property, just vet tenants and provide the AST’s) unless I sign another 12 month AST with no break clause next March they are not to renew my tenancy.

Your tenancy does not need "renewing". It will automatically go to a statutory periodic when the 12 months expire. Once it's into SPT, you can serve one month's notice, the landlord can serve two - providing all the paperwork is in order, as there are a myriad of ways for s21 notices to be unenforceable.

System

Thanks again everyone, I feel less panicked, I of course, have not been served a section 21 so my residency is fine for now. My intention is to await contact from the letting agency regarding tenancy renewal, at which point I shall approach my landlord directly (unless I've had an opportunity to speak with him in person first) and ask he consider leaving it on a rolling contract or reducing the AST term to 6 months. If he says no and I *must* sign a 12 month tenancy agreement then I will have to really consider my options at that time but it sounds like asking him isn't going to cause me an issue in the future so worth a try!

Guest101

Sometimes people come on here who really do want advice, other times people just want their previously made decision reinforced.


It would be most helpful if the latter would make this clear