Handing in notice on tenancy.

Jimbo6376

Hi all.

Just over two years years ago we sold up and moved to the South West. We moved into a rented house on the land of good friends (well they were then)

We had a contract with them although they never asked for a deposit.

Unfortunately the friendship broke down this year and we have a little to do with them since Easter. So we decided that we had be stupid and should use the money from our house sale to get back on the property ladder. We should be moving in January all going to plan.

Our landlords didn’t known about this although we believe they had guessed. They emailed us to say we will be getting a new contract. It arrived and we used the opportunity to give one months notice which starts end of December and finishes end of January (so more than a month) they are insisting we sign the new contract which has a few different terms. We are refusing to sign as we are leaving in January. New contract starts jan 1st.

An estate agent friend who specialises in letting has said we are in the right. They still insist we sign. They have even asked a mutual friend to push us into signing.

Are we doing the Right Thing?

G_M

They cannot make you sign a contract if you don't want to.

So what is your current contract?

* a fixed term? start and end dates please?
* if periodic (monthly rolling), what are the start/end dates of each period?
* did the original written contract (if there was one) say what would happen after the fixed term ended? Did it mention notice periods?

we used the opportunity to give one months notice which starts end of December and finishes end of January

* Exact date you served the notice please
* exact date the notice expires please

Comms69

i insist you pay me £100 - worth a try...


(sign nothing)

AdrianC

If you don't sign, they can give you two months notice to leave.

Oh, dear. How tragic that would be.

Jimbo6376

It was a fixed term contract from January 1st to December 31st 2018. We actually moved in September 2017 but had the first few months free as there were issues with house that were still be sorted.

This is the first new contract since then.

We served the notice was Friday last week, a letter sent recorded delivery the day before. they were warned the letter was on its way on Wednesday last week by email.

G_M

Jimbo6376 wrote: »

It was a fixed term contract from January 1st to December 31st 2018. We actually moved in September 2017 but had the first few months free as there were issues with house that were still be sorted.so tenancy periods run from first to last day each month.

This is the first new contract since then.

We served the notice was Friday last week, a letter sent recorded delivery the day before. they were warned the letter was on its way on Wednesday last week by email.

email not valid unless the tenancy agreement specifies it.

1st class mail = service 2 working days later, so service is Tuesday 10th.

The full tenancy period notice will therefore run from 1st Jan to 31st Jan when it expires.

Of course, you can mutually agree any date you like with the landlord. If you do, get it confirmed in writing.

Jimbo6376

We are more than happy with 31st January as leaving date. Not sure why they are so desperate for us to sign a new contract. It does have a few changes, like need to give two months notice to leave and that the house will be reassessed for rent cost at some point in the year. They have a mortgage on this place. They didn’t at first, owned it outright but changed it to a mortgage for tax reasons.

AdrianC

Aha. And that's the reason.

Their lender insists on it as part of the consent to let.

Jimbo6376

It was changed to a mortgage last year but the contract was not renewed and it said no mortgage, they even asked us to pay extra rent for a couple of months to make it look like they had a bigger income on it.

AdrianC

Whether there's a mortgage or not doesn't affect your tenancy.
They can ask you to lend them some money to lie on their mortgage application if they really think it'll help them, but it makes no difference to your tenancy.

BUT
Any and every BtL/CtL lender will insist on a tenancy contract that meets their standards, for all properties they're lending on. It helps protect their security, by preventing surprises as and when they repossess.

And if this muppet told you it was "for tax reasons" - he's lying. There are better tax reasons to mortgage your home ahead of a rental property. There's only one reason to mortgage a place - you need the money.

Jimbo6376

The extra money was mid 2018. I reckon they have been caught out by the contract not saying there’s a mortgage on the property. That’s why they need a new one signed.