Break clause in short-term AST

saajan_12

Moskovite said:

Landlord issued a notice a week before legislation changed for notice to be 6 months so I trust it's his intention to move a good paying tenant (me) out and tie someone in with a long contract. On that basis I believe it's pointless to speak to him. - maybe. Or maybe it's the LL incorrectly believing that a fixed term is better (in which case continue as you are and time will show him he's wrong). Or maybe it's the agent twisting things because it gets them a new contract fee from the LL (in which case talking to the LL may help). 
On another note, my concern is if I stay beyond notice period expires can this somehow impact lender decision to transfer mortgage funds -  for my new build? I mean if the lender learns that I'm being summoned to court for eviction? - no, notices are just between two parties, not public info. Court cases for eg rent arrears might interest them but a S21 (no fault) just means you're moving out so can't see they'd care. 
Also like I asked here before what is the process of me moving out after notice expires but before the actual court hearing? Do I have to give a one month notice or any other notice? Does it have to be an agreement with LL, i.e.  surrender? Something else? - Yes, before a court issues a possession date, the tenancy continues as normal so to end it you must either serve valid notice or mutually agree an early surrender with the LL. 
The main idea here is to get out from this situation without negative credit history, loss of mortgage offer or significant financial impact. 

Re the notice periods, you still only have to serve between 1 and 2 calendar months notice achieve the 1 tenancy period. The LL's notice period is always longer (previously 2, since changed to 3 and now 6 full calendar months) so sounds pretty fair to me (at least for the tenant). The mismatch comes from the different pieces of legislation being written at different times, but overall the tenant still has more flexibility. 

Moskovite said:

Yes, that's the link I was referring to. It seems unfair that 3 months notice from LL can fall on any calendar day and be exactly that 3 months sharp while my "one month notice" should only fall on the start/end day of periodic tenancy, meaning is it can be almost 2 months if it's served a day after the rental period started. Is my understanding correct? 
Example: my rolling tenancy starts on the 4th of each month, suppose I issue a notice on the 10th of November, then according to the rules for SPT the notice should fall on the 4th of January and I end up paying rent for the whole December and even first days of 2021? Which is effectively almost 2 months from the moment the notice got issued. 

Moskovite

I'm not arguing that 1 month notice for tenant is worse than 3 for landlord. I'm just pointing out at the fact that 3 months for them is exactly that=3 months while for tenant 1 month can be anytime between 1 and 2 months. That's what I find unfair and confusing for making tenants think 1 month is always just 1 month. Perhaps they could have come up with a better name for the tenant notice period. 

greatcrested

Whether it's unfair or not, that's the law.

Arguably it is an oversight when the Housing Act (and amendments) was drafted and passed into law. The Housing Act specifies how landlord's must end tenancies but says nothing bout how tenants end tenancies.

Consequently tenants' notice is based on 300 years of Common Law (which was over-ruled b the Housing Act so far as landlord's are concerned).

Bit of history for you!