How much notice re: rented flat

Cherez

Hello all, hoping for a bit of advice please.

I moved into my rented flat the first week in August, at various times the letting agent was supposed to come round and get me to sign the lease but never turned up, i've had no problems at all with the landlady, in fact she's been pretty good. I took on this flat and was told by the letting agent that all flats were for a 6 months lease, the reason i was renting was that i was looking for my own house and now have one, we exchange contracts on 14th November. How much notice will I have to give the landlady? I presume it would be a months' notice and if so, does that have to be given from the day i pay my next rent? and can i get away with not paying for the whole of the 6 months, I know its only an extra month but as you can appreciate, that months' rent would be of such a help when moving into my new home.

Many thanks for any advice given.

$$$_12

If you haven't actually signed any contract then no notice is necessary (or at least it would be hard to enforce any notice). I'm surprised you didn't have to sign before you were allowed to move in.

It would probably be good manners to give a months notice though (but I'd be wary of paying the last month's rent - tell them to take it from the deposit).

If you have signed a lease then you'll probably have to pay the full whack unless you can come to an agreement with the landlady/letting agent.

clutton_2

your payment of rent forms a legally binding contract between you and the landlord - you are still legally bound to give one months notice. you have a good landlady - and you now want to dump on her ........ well done

$$$_12

clutton wrote: »

your payment of rent forms a legally binding contract between you and the landlord - you are still legally bound to give one months notice.

Could you explain a bit more about this? It sounds quite fascinating that are still bound to give one month's notice - even if no contract is in place.

On a personal basis I agree about not dumping as good landlords/ladies should be encouraged. But without the contract (the letting agents fault) the option is there.

shamac

Can someone confirm what the legal amount of notice that has to be given if no tenancy agreement has been signed-we are in a similar position.-if it is a verbal contract is a months notice required and does it have to be in writing or is verbal notice sufficient?

rheme

You might find this useful

My landlord said that I could move in but hasn’t given me a tenancy agreement yet, what are my rights?
[FONT=Arial,Arial]A tenancy contract can be written or verbal, but it’s always better to have a written agreement so that you can see exactly what your rights are and what your landlord’s responsibilities are. If your landlord is taking rent from you on the understanding that it is in return for you staying in the property then you have entered into a contract. Tenancy agreements do not have a set format and landlord’s can include additional items to be adhered to as long as they are fair. Be aware of what you are agreeing to, if you are unsure that a term is fair we can check it for you.

Notice
[FONT=Arial,Arial]This is amount of time that your landlord gives you or that you give before ending a tenancy. Landlords normally have to give 2 months and tenants 1 month. However, this can very dependant on the condition of the tenancy agreement and therefore it is important to seek advice if you are unsure.
[/FONT][/FONT]

moneysavinmonkey

ok.. assuming (i'm not sure if this is right) that you have entered into a legally binding verbal AST contract for 6 months then you are liable to pay rent until the end of the 6 month period - it is only after the initial 6 months when you go onto a rolling contract that the 1 month for you 2 months for landlord applies.

If you leave the property before the end of the 6 months then your landlord must make reasonable efforts to relet the property and once he does then you do not have to pay rent anymore... although you do have to pay his reasonable costs in finding a new tenant.

So for example you are moving out in month 3 of a 6 month contract, but it takes the landlord 2 months from when you leave to find a new tenant and he has to pay out £160 to get another inventory done and credit checks etc. you will have to pay the landlord two months rent + £160.

Sorry! Ultimately you made an agreement to rent the property for 6 months and there is going to be a financial penalty for breaking that agreement. My best moneysaving advice is to be as helpful and as nice to the landlord as possible and hope he lets you off the hook! If you can find a new tenant yourself then that will minimise your losses too.

Cherez

clutton wrote: »

your payment of rent forms a legally binding contract between you and the landlord - you are still legally bound to give one months notice. you have a good landlady - and you now want to dump on her ........ well done

Clutton, if you actually took the time to READ my post, you would see that I have EVERY intention of giving my landlady one months notice, I do NOT want to 'dump' on my landlady and I wouldnt dream of just going, I just dont know when that starts from, if i pay my months rent on the 1st of each month, can i give her one months notice say on 17th and pay her up to 17th of the next month. If she holds me to the 6 month's agreement then fair enough. All I want to know is exactly where i stand without a contract!!

I came on here for some help, for which I thank everyone else for their helpful and kind comments.

kunekune

Need to check this out! Thinking of NZ law.

moneysavinmonkey

kunekune - why do you say that you can't have a binding verbal agreement?
Have looked it up on Shelter and their advice is that a verbal contract is viable.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-3179.cfm#wipLive-10065-3

PasturesNew

As a "backup plan", reading the above, where you might be responsible for the 6 months' rent, while the landlord has an obligation to get another tenant soonest, it might be a good idea for you to also advertise the flat.

I've seen this on Gumtree.... sounded a good place, but I missed it.

In that instance the tenant was advertising that they wanted to move out of their lovely place and did somebody want to take over the remainder of the term. I missed it, it had gone, so it obviously works!

Obviously you can't show them round, then hand over the keys and let them take it over, they'd still need to be approved by the same route that you undertook, but you could certainly be proactive in the role of introducer.

So I'd suggest preparing a Gumtree advert and possibly local adverts in shops and at work if you have a noticeboard or ability to send out an email to your colleagues. Also spread the word with everybody you meet.

You could either let the landlord/agent know you're doing this, and give people their direct number to contact. Or, you could, in the first instance, speak with people about what you're doing and show them round. Maybe even a mix/match approach depending on who you are targetting.

Certainly worth a thought. And it needn't cost you anything to do, but the rewards are clear enough.