Ending a tenancy - Northern Ireland

fiwen30

Side note: I’ll be contacting Housing Advice NI on Monday, but posting just in case someone knows a bit more than I currently do!

I’ve lived in a rented house for just over 4 years, and my partner and I are in the process of buying a (empty) house together - no exchange/completion date mentioned yet.

First 2 years were 12 month tenancy agreements with signed contracts, after the 48th month the LL was happy for me to ‘stay as long as [I] liked’, and so it moved to a rolling(?) tenancy for the last 2+ years.

Those first 2 12 month contracts had my contract begin on the 1st of August. My rent also comes out on the 1st of each month. I paid the equivalent of 1 months rent as a deposit.

I know I have to give 28 days notice to my LL, but I’m not sure if the notice period has to fall so that we spend a full calendar month in the rented house, or if the notice period can fall mid-month? What we would like, is about a 2-3 week window post-completion to decorate the new house, move furniture, and clean the empty rented house before handing keys back. What would be really nice would be to do this without having a month of paying both rent + mortgage - would this be at all possible, do you think? Is there anything else I’ve not thought of, or should know, about moving from rented to purchased? Many thanks.

youth_leader

How near exchange are you?  I'm in rented and have received advice to give notice once I've exchanged - hopefully I will be able to give a month's notice to the completion date.  If it falls before the end of the month, all the better, as I have pets and need to shampoo the carpets etc. 

fiwen30

youth_leader said:

How near exchange are you?  I'm in rented and have received advice to give notice once I've exchanged - hopefully I will be able to give a month's notice to the completion date.  If it falls before the end of the month, all the better, as I have pets and need to shampoo the carpets etc. 

Don’t know exactly, hoping to find out more when I call solicitors tomorrow. Interesting that you have so long between your exchange & completion dates, given that most transactions in the rest of the UK have both taken part on the same day recently due to C-19 - is there a reason for your 1 month gap? Where did that advice come from, if you don’t mind my asking?

youth_leader

Sorry fiwen30 I was speculating on my completion date, I haven't received any advice on it, I am at the start of the purchasing process, my survey is happening on Tuesday.  I hope not to exchange and complete on the same day if I can avoid it, I would like to have a period of time after exchange if possible.  I've paid my rent six months in advance, tenancy ends on 7 February.

dimbo61

Why not talk to your solicitor on Monday. 
How far along in the process are you from completion/exchange ?
Why not have a friendly chat to your landlord and give him the heads up.
" Hi we are in the process of buying our first home thanks for being a Great Landlord ? How much notice do we need to give ? "
Yes you might well have to pay rent on your current home while paying a mortgage on your new home while cleaning, painting, moving stuff in.
It's not 28 days it's one calender month's notice to line up with the tenancy so 1st of the month.
So if you want things to run smoothly work with your landlord.
If you allow viewings he may allow you to only pay rent till the day your move out.
He may have other tenants interested or want to sell/renovate.

greatcrested

https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/dsd/hsdiv-private-tenancies-tenants.pdf

(does not seem to mention notice for rolling /periodic tenancies, but my quick reading suggests notice required should be specified in the TA )

fiwen30

Thanks all, much appreciated.

Yes, will hopefully be in touch with solicitor tomorrow, to find out expected exchange/completion. Once that’s pencilled in, I’ll contact LL and informally advise him of timeframes, and then take it from there. Will set aside a months rent just in case.

greatcrested

Whilst it's always good to reach an amicable arrangement regarding notice with your landlord, it is wise to be aware of the legal requirements, even if you jointly choose to ignore them.

I'm not familiar with NI tenancy law, but the link above plus some googling should provide the answer, so I suggest a little research (unless someone comes along here who knows NI law)