Advice for subletting notice period

cooltt

Hi All, i'm not firmiliar with this situation so i thought i'd ask the community.

A work colleague rents a room in a rented apartment from a couple who are not the landlord, they have a TA for the apartment.

He paid £400 deposit and £400 rent upfront when he moved in, all has been well for 5 months.

He is almost ready to exchange on a property and mentioned this to the tenant, the tenant said they would need 30 days notice?

There is no written TA for the room or any TDS for the deposit. Can my colleague just leave with less than 30 days notice and ask for deposit back too?

He is fairly sure the landlord does not know the room is being sublet.

Comms69

They live there with him im guessing? If so... He's a lodger, not a tenant. This is not subletting; and in anycase subletting is not illegal.

Notice is often 1 payment period. 

theartfullodger

The colleague is the lodger if couple who are his landlord.  Couple are tenants who have owner as their landlords.  In these circumstances I'd threaten legal action after leaving.

greatcrested

The colleague is a lodger, and the couple are his landlord. He is not a tenant, and the couple are not sub-letting.

The colleague has a licence, not a tenancy. There is a verbal contract.

Unless the notice period was agreed at the start, either verbally or in writing (which appears not to be the case here), then any notice must be 'reasonable'.

'Reasonable notice' in law can vary according to the specific circumstances, but a general rule of thumb is that if rent is paid weekly, a week's notice would be reasonable. If rent is paid monthly, a month's notice is reasonable.

(this applies both both ways ie whoever gives notice to end the contract).

Comms69

3 replies, all saying the same thing, with no controversy - this is what this forum should be like!  

cooltt

Comms69 said:

3 replies, all saying the same thing, with no controversy - this is what this forum should be like!  

OK let me make this clear because i'm confused. The couple who are renting the apartment are not the owners or landlord. The landlord does not live at the property.

He was just asking does he have to give 30 days notice eventhough there is NO tenancy agreemnt or protected deposit?

macman

Slightly odd though that he's got all the way to exchange without mentioning it to the people he shares a flat with on a daily basis? Most people buying a property will bore you to death talking about it if given a chance.
If it's a conventional schedule, then he'll be completing in a month and able to give a month's notice anyway.

Comms69

cooltt said:

Comms69 said:

3 replies, all saying the same thing, with no controversy - this is what this forum should be like!  

OK let me make this clear because i'm confused. The couple who are renting the apartment are not the owners or landlord. The landlord does not live at the property.

He was just asking does he have to give 30 days notice eventhough there is NO tenancy agreemnt or protected deposit?

Pause, and listen. 

They are HIS landlord. (a landlord does not need to own a property); and they live at the property (please confirm this). 

He does not 'have' to give notice, they do not 'have' to return his deposit. It would end up in court; and reasonable notice, as described above, is considered one 1 payment period. 

IF the couple dont live there, then the deposit would need to be protected. Otherwise it's fine. 

There is no obligation, for either lodger or tenant, to have a written agreement. 

greatcrested

cooltt said:

Comms69 said:

3 replies, all saying the same thing, with no controversy - this is what this forum should be like!  

OK let me make this clear because i'm confused. The couple who are renting the apartment are not the owners or landlord. The landlord does not live at the property.

He was just asking does he have to give 30 days notice eventhough there is NO tenancy agreemnt or protected deposit?

cooltt said:

Comms69 said:

3 replies, all saying the same thing, with no controversy - this is what this forum should be like!  

OK let me make this clear because i'm confused. The couple who are renting the apartment are not the owners or landlord. The landlord does not live at the property.

He was just asking does he have to give 30 days notice eventhough there is NO tenancy agreemnt or protected deposit?

strange. I thought we'd made it clear!

The owner is the couple's landlord. The couple are the owner's tenants.

The colleague is the couple's lodger. The couple are the colleague's landlord.

There is a (verbal) contract between the couple and the colleague: he pays them rent and they give him a room in return.

To end that contract he (or indeed they if they wish) need to give notice. As they have not contractually agreed what that notice should be, Common Law requires it to be 'reasonable'.

For the avoidance of doubt, since the colleague is the couple's  lodger, not a tenant, his deposit did not need to be protected (the Housing Act 1988 defines him as an 'Excluded Occupier' - ie excluded from tenancy rules).

cooltt

Ok, i wasn't understanding the tenants becoming his landlord bit.

Yes he did tell them he's buying a property, it's just been taking ages to get to exchange.

Also he isn't going to cause trouble he was just curious about the notice period requested.

greatcrested

Of course, he and they could always agree something different. eg he could say "Would it be OK if I give you 10 days notice as my house purchase is Completing on xxxx" or similar.