Renting - Letting agent demanding we sign a new Tenancy Agreement

EchoW

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice, sorry for the long post.

We have been renting our current property through a letting agent for about 2 1/2 years and our 12 month Tenancy Agreement is up for renewal very soon. We have never caused any issues, have kept the property immaculate and even modernised it. We are in the process of finally buying our own property and are currently dealing with all the legal side of things for that.

I've informed the letting agent about a month ago that after the Tenancy Agreement is finished, we would like to stay on a rolling month by month basis (Statutory Periodic Tenancy) as we have been looking to buy and we can't sign on for another 12 months.

They didn't say much and said they would speak to the LL. We haven't heard from them for about 3 weeks and since late last week, they have been demanding that we sign a new Tenancy Agreement on a month by month basis with a 2 month notice period (no break clause) plus a renewal fee of £100 + VAT on top.

I believe this is a tad extreme? Ideally I don't want to re-sign because of this, we could potentially get a completion date next month and I don't want to be tied down to paying rent for 2 months but we do need somewhere for us and the kids to live at.

Can we legally let the Tenancy Agreement expire so that we go on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy?

Thanks for the help!

anselld

EchoW wrote: »

Can we legally let the Tenancy Agreement expire so that we go on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy?

Yes you can, and there is no need to pay the renewal fee.

Marvel1

As above, when they ring, ignore their calls.

You only have to give 1 month notice.

Pixie5740

Statutory Periodic Tenancy the clue is in the name, it's statutory law and there is nothing the landlord or letting agency can do to prevent it from happening. Do check your current tenancy agreement though to see if there is provision in it for a contractual periodic tenancy.

Paying £100 for a document which gives you no more security than a SPT is ridiculous. Other than saying you are happy with a periodic tenancy I wouldn't respond any further to the letting agent no matter what they might threaten.

Edit: Take a gander at G_M's Ending/Renewing an AST: A) What happens when a fixed term AST ends; How can LL or tenant end an AST?

chanz4

agents ripping you off again, ignore them it will go month to month

chanz4

or ask them if they could put the demand in writing so you can check with your solicitor

itchyfeet123

Are you in touch with the LL at all, or are all your interactions with the agent? If you are in touch and on good terms with the LL, I would contact her. As others have said, if you do nothing you will automatically go on to either a CPT or an SPT, depending on your previous tenancy agreement. The reason I suggest getting in touch with the LL directly is mostly to see how comfortable she is with a periodic tenancy in general or a lack of a newly signed document in particular, in case she'll preemptively issue notice. But also because there's a decent chance the agents aren't exactly acting on her instrcution here and she might be interested to know that her agent is annoying her tenants.

EchoW

itchyfeet123 wrote: »

Are you in touch with the LL at all, or are all your interactions with the agent? If you are in touch and on good terms with the LL, I would contact her. As others have said, if you do nothing you will automatically go on to either a CPT or an SPT, depending on your previous tenancy agreement. The reason I suggest getting in touch with the LL directly is mostly to see how comfortable she is with a periodic tenancy in general or a lack of a newly signed document in particular, in case she'll preemptively issue notice. But also because there's a decent chance the agents aren't exactly acting on her instrcution here and she might be interested to know that her agent is annoying her tenants.

Thank you everyone for your quick reply's.

We don't unfortunately have any contact with the LL, everything is done through the letting agent. I could potentially ask the letting agent to have the LL's details if you think its worth trying to contact them directly?

Apart from that, it was a 12 month agreement and mentions no provision on it for a contractual periodic tenancy (also checked the terms and conditions too just to make sure).

Once again, thanks everyone.

Miss_Samantha

chanz4 wrote: »

or ask them if they could put the demand in writing so you can check with your solicitor

There is nothing unlawful or improper with their proposal...

G_M

EchoW wrote: »

........ I could potentially ask the letting agent to have the LL's details if you think its worth trying to contact them directly?

....

In this case I suspect you'd simply stir up a hornets nest.

Better to keep your head down and wait till the fixed term ends and a SPT arises automaticalky.

rtho782

Should never have given them a heads up!

They/the LL would have to give 2 months notice to get you out, and as the current tenancy now expires in just over a week, it sounds like you're going on statutory periodic now, and there is nothing they can do.