Rental notice served - advice please!

saajan_12

Normally I'd say more communication, but this is totally unnecessary. The most I'd say is a VERBAL "I'm trying to find somewhere asap. Giving me a good reference will expedite that." The letter has zero benefit. 

GDB2222 said:

In the tenant's position, I would write as follows.

Dear Landlord 

I accept that you would very much like me to vacate the property on xx February, although you have served a S21 notice that only expires in July, and I will do my best to comply. I am looking every day for somewhere else to live, but it’s not easy to find anywhere. Whilst I appreciate that you have great need of this property, you can’t expect me to live on the streets. So, I will move out as soon as I find something suitable. 

 I would appreciate your help in a couple of ways please:

Please provide a great reference. I think I have always been a decent tenant, in any case.

Please refund 100% of my deposit, so I have this available to put down on the new place. You can inspect the property to ensure that there are no breakages.

Please agree to waive any requirements for notice that I would have to give you. It is possible that I will find somewhere to move to that will be available at short notice, and I cannot afford to pay rent on two places at the same time.

You can always add Please agree to pay me £5000 to go ahead of time.

IF and WHEN you find alternative accommodation, you could reach out to the LL at that point asking them to mutually agree a surrender, saying otherwise that would fall through and you would be in the property longer. No need to remind them of your notice now. 

CKhalvashi

Effectively what GDB says. Feel free to copy and paste into Word, edit as needed and use as you feel fit. There's no need to get legal or technical, simply to state the current position and what you aim to get out of this.

(Your address on the right)
(Landlords address on the left)
(Date)

Dear Landlord,

On 06/01/2021, you served me with a Section 21 notice expiring on 06/07/2021. I understand that from our verbal communications you are requesting the property back towards the end of February. We are both aware that 6 months notice is required under the current emergency Coronavirus legislation.

I am provisionally willing to agree to this mutual surrender, but with the following conditions:

• I am able to find suitable alternative accommodation of a similar standard and style to that of (insert first line of address)
• My deposit of £xxx, transferred to you on xx/xx/xx is transferred to the new property upon signing the contract, as due to further emergency legislation, I am currently unable to work.
• All moving costs are bourne by yourself, with an upper limit of £1000. If you wish to ask one of your own contacts to do this to save on your own costs, this is acceptable, subject to insurance covering goods in transit being in place for the vehicle that is used for this purpose to a minimum of £5000.
• 50% of the rent for the remaining period of the Section 21 notice is paid by you in full, by bank transfer, on handing over the keys to the property on a mutual walkaround, however a reasonable estimate of any damage can be deducted and the balance exchanged within 20 working days subject to receipts, however should not exceed £250.
• Any increase in rent on my new property is to be paid by yourself for the first 6 months, to a maximum limit of £100 per month.
• You do not hinder in any way my finding of another property and provide all references in a timely manner.

Please note that due to requiring time to find alternative accommodation, this offer is available to you until Friday 29 January 2021, at which time it will be withdrawn.

Many thanks

(Your Relatives name)

CKhalvashi

saajan_12 said:

IF and WHEN you find alternative accommodation, you could reach out to the LL at that point asking them to mutually agree a surrender, saying otherwise that would fall through and you would be in the property longer. No need to remind them of your notice now. 

This could potentially leave OP's relative in a position of paying 2 months rent on a property for 2 months and is something definitely I'd advise against for that reason.

Having an agreement in writing will stop this from happening.

saajan_12

CKhalvashi said:

saajan_12 said:

IF and WHEN you find alternative accommodation, you could reach out to the LL at that point asking them to mutually agree a surrender, saying otherwise that would fall through and you would be in the property longer. No need to remind them of your notice now. 

This could potentially leave OP's relative in a position of paying 2 months rent on a property for 2 months and is something definitely I'd advise against for that reason.

Having an agreement in writing will stop this from happening.

But your letter doesn't get an agreement. It requests an agreement, which is incredibly unlikely to be agreed by the LL so the only outcome will be soured relations and threats to give bad references. 

As for why no LL would agree.. There's too many what ifs with that proposal
*  what if OP doesn't find a place for months - then the LL is left paying for costs when they could evict without costs shortly after.
*  who decides what a "similar standard" is and what if they disagree? The OP could get an upgrade at the LL's cost for 6 months. 
* what if tenant trashes the place, why would the LL agree to cap damages at £250?
* what if they disagree on what receipts are claimable or how to depreciate things - who would arbitrate given deposit is returned so they can't go to deposit scheme. 

The time to go back and forth over defining all this, they could just focus on finding a new property. Then based on an ACTUAL property and ACTUAL move out date, the OP could say pay XYZ and I'll be gone NOW.  Also why would a LL agree to pay moving costs - the tenant would eventually move, so what difference does it make now or later?

CKhalvashi

saajan_12 said:

CKhalvashi said:

saajan_12 said:

IF and WHEN you find alternative accommodation, you could reach out to the LL at that point asking them to mutually agree a surrender, saying otherwise that would fall through and you would be in the property longer. No need to remind them of your notice now. 

This could potentially leave OP's relative in a position of paying 2 months rent on a property for 2 months and is something definitely I'd advise against for that reason.

Having an agreement in writing will stop this from happening.

But your letter doesn't get an agreement. It requests an agreement, which is incredibly unlikely to be agreed by the LL so the only outcome will be soured relations and threats to give bad references. 

As for why no LL would agree.. There's too many what ifs with that proposal
*  what if OP doesn't find a place for months - then the LL is left paying for costs when they could evict without costs shortly after.
*  who decides what a "similar standard" is and what if they disagree? The OP could get an upgrade at the LL's cost for 6 months. 
* what if tenant trashes the place, why would the LL agree to cap damages at £250?
* what if they disagree on what receipts are claimable or how to depreciate things - who would arbitrate given deposit is returned so they can't go to deposit scheme. 

The time to go back and forth over defining all this, they could just focus on finding a new property. Then based on an ACTUAL property and ACTUAL move out date, the OP could say pay XYZ and I'll be gone NOW.  Also why would a LL agree to pay moving costs - the tenant would eventually move, so what difference does it make now or later?

In this case, the LL will be left with a choice; wait until S21 expires and then potentially have a year long backlog through the courts (who are the only ones who can end the tenancy), or with a rent of £1000 a month, shell out a maximum of around £4000 to get the property back, so probably less than this.

They require access to an asset worth many multiples of what is being asked, and are asking someone they freely entered into a business arrangement with when this legislation was already known to give up significant rights that they ought to have known about before signing a contract. This legislation has been in place since August.

Of course I'm suggesting in this that the OP's relative is actively registering with multiple agencies and checking the small ads on Gumtree etc (if doing this privately it's possible to pay £3 to check the ownership of the property). That is a necessary implied term of this deal.

greatcrested

On refection, I agree with saajan's approach.

* If/when the tenant finds a new property, he can then ask the LL for an Early Surrender on xxx date, to avoid overlapping rent. Since the LL wants the tenant to leave, he is likely to jump at this and agree. If he does not, the tenant risks losing the new property, and the LL is left with the tenant in occupation for (much) longer (not just the 6 month S21 period but potentially 6 more months for legal processes).

* the letter risks commencing a back/forth debate. For reasons saajan lists (and others) the LL is unlikely to agree. And it might sour the relationship unecessarily at a time when there is in any case no prosepect of a move

I'm generally an advocate of getting things firmed up in writing, but sometimes less is more. Until there is actually something concrete to confirm let sleeping dogs lie.