Private rental termination

Bmwm3gt2

Hi, we are in a privately rented house and the letting agent informed us the the landlord wanted to sell the property so gave us plenty of notice (over 3 months) and told us that if we found another property we had to give 4 weeks notice. We have found a property and told the new letting agent that we would like to sign in a couple of weeks, giving us time to clean the new house, move everything and then clean the old house without needing to rush as we are both self employed and our work can change very quickly. We contacted the existing letting agent by email to give 4 weeks notice. They have now come back and stated that it's 4 weeks from the date of the contract, which had just passed so effectively they are saying we need to give nearly 2 months notice. Surely this can't be correct can it, given that the landlord has started the termination? Thanks

oldbikebloke

the exact timing of the notice depends on what sort of tenancy you have and yes you do have to give notice, which must be timed correctly otherwise it will be invalid and you can't move at all. The fact the LL has notified you of his intent to get a court order that will allow him to repossess the house has no bearing your decision to leave yourselves before that court order lands on your doormat 

read the sticky at the top of this board as there are several scenarios each of which have different rules, so rather than bombard you with questions to get to the answer, please just read the relevant sections on Ending/renewing an AST that cover whether you are: a) in a fixed term or your tenancy is now b) periodic noting b)i) statutory and b)ii) contractual are different...
 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67759913#Comment_67759913

Bmwm3gt2

oldbikebloke said:

the exact timing of the notice depends on what sort of tenancy you have

read the sticky at the top of this board as there are several scenarios each of which have different rules, so rather than bombard you with questions to get to the answer, please just read the relevant sections on Ending/renewing an AST that cover whether you are: a) in a fixed term or your tenancy is now b) periodic noting b)i) statutory and b)ii) contractual are different...
 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67759913#Comment_67759913

Thanks, I've tried understanding the link but failing miserably! We are out of our fixed term so effectively on a rolling contract. We are in England. Reading that to me looks like we do need to give 4 weeks from the date the rent is paid as the letting agent stated, but that is if we are the ones terminating, it's the landlord terminating so not sure if the same notice is applicable? I hope that makes sense? Thanks

Slithery

Bmwm3gt2 said:

Reading that to me looks like we do need to give 4 weeks from the date the rent is paid as the letting agent stated, but that is if we are the ones terminating, it's the landlord terminating so not sure if the same notice is applicable? I hope that makes sense? Thanks

But it is you terminating the tenancy, the landlord has no power to do so.

The only 2 entities in this country that can legally end a tenancy are the tenants or the courts.

Bmwm3gt2

Slithery said:

Bmwm3gt2 said:

Reading that to me looks like we do need to give 4 weeks from the date the rent is paid as the letting agent stated, but that is if we are the ones terminating, it's the landlord terminating so not sure if the same notice is applicable? I hope that makes sense? Thanks

But it is you terminating the tenancy, the landlord has no power to do so.

The only 2 entities in this country that can legally end a tenancy are the tenants or the courts.

The landlord served notice?

oldbikebloke

Bmwm3gt2 said:

Slithery said:

Bmwm3gt2 said:

Reading that to me looks like we do need to give 4 weeks from the date the rent is paid as the letting agent stated, but that is if we are the ones terminating, it's the landlord terminating so not sure if the same notice is applicable? I hope that makes sense? Thanks

But it is you terminating the tenancy, the landlord has no power to do so.

The only 2 entities in this country that can legally end a tenancy are the tenants or the courts.

The landlord served notice?

no, if you are unable to read the sticky, let us repeat it - if mutual solution is not agreed, and one wants the law to be followed, then a tenancy can only end by one of two things happening: 
1) the tenant giving (correctly timed) notice
or
2) the LL getting a court order - for which the LL has to serve notice first of the fact he is going to court. That is all he has done so far, nothing has yet ended.

You have been given notice that the LL will go to court to get you out.

You have chosen of your own volition to leave before that happens, so you in return must follow the law to give him notice of your intention to leave and end the tenancy, since it appears to be periodic and thus you can actually do that, as the fixed term is over. 

EmmyLou30

You are the ones terminating the contract by choosing to leave (albeit it you are leaving in good time to do the landlord a favour in getting out without him having to evict you through the courts etc so I can see why you'd feel a bit annoyed about him now holding you to the legal notice period). In which case yes, you have to give notice of 4 weeks from the date you pay your rent so if you've just missed that deadline then it'll be an extra month you'll have to pay for.

Bmwm3gt2

Thank you for that, it does annoy me tbh, but what has really wound me up is the letting agent initially telling us we just needed to give 4 weeks, not 4 weeks from the rental date. I will see if the landlord will cooperate as it would help them get the property on the market sooner, I'm not hopeful though as we have been waiting for months for the broken fridge to be sorted etc 😞

steampowered

You could respond saying that if the agent/landlord do not agree to let you terminate as per what you previously told by the letting agent, then you won't be permitting viewings, won't be moving out and the landlord will have to go down the route of serving a s21 notice and then evicting you (at considerable cost).

A landlord can't be messing around a tenant who is being cooperative when the landlord wants to sell the property. You could completely scupper the sale by refusing to cooperate if you wanted to do so.

theartfullodger

Just because a landlord sells a property does not mean the tenancy has / will end or that the tenant has to leave.

Simply sit tight & do nothing until land serves a notice: That should buy you a few more months at the least, and many landlord's notices are invalid anyway.

Best wishes, Artful: Landlord as it happens

[Deleted User]

Where is 4 weeks coming from?  Do you have a contractual periodic tenancy that states 4 weeks notice?  What notice has the landlord actually served or has the letting agent just given you a heads up?