Landlord Query about Serving Notice

stu2500

Good afternoon, can someone advise me how to serve notice to a tenant correctly? I have a tenancy agreement with an individual in my inherited property, but I now wish to sell this. I have 12 months notice written in to the agreement, which I am happy to honour, but I was keen to understand the process aside from issuing them a section 21 notice. Do I need a witness or solicitor to confirm I have issued this to them or is asking the tenant to sign the notice sufficient? I'm concerned that when it comes to them leaving, they won't and they'll deny knowledge of being served notice. 

Any help is appreciated. I have never served notice to a tenant and this is an inherited porperty.

[Deleted User]

stu2500 said:

Good afternoon, can someone advise me how to serve notice to a tenant correctly? I have a tenancy agreement with an individual in my inherited property, but I now wish to sell this. I have 12 months notice written in to the agreement, which I am happy to honour, but I was keen to understand the process aside from issuing them a section 21 notice. Do I need a witness or solicitor to confirm I have issued this to them or is asking the tenant to sign the notice sufficient? I'm concerned that when it comes to them leaving, they won't and they'll deny knowledge of being served notice. 

Any help is appreciated. I have never served notice to a tenant and this is an inherited porperty.

You have a 12 month notice period written into the tenancy agreement? That is very unusual. 

A Section 21 notice does not have to be witnessed nor does the tenant have to sign the notice. 

macman

Just serve by post and retain Ervice is then assumed to have been made after 2 days from posting date. No need to prove or witness anything.
12m notice, but what is the remaining term on the AST? 

stu2500

macman said:

Just serve by post and retain Ervice is then assumed to have been made after 2 days from posting date. No need to prove or witness anything.
12m notice, but what is the remaining term on the AST? 

I'm not sure to be honest, I'll have to check the agreement. The agreement is from a few years ago, completed privately and was a rolling 12 month rental agreement. 

Thanks for your reply. 

stu2500

Lover_of_Lycra said:

stu2500 said:

Good afternoon, can someone advise me how to serve notice to a tenant correctly? I have a tenancy agreement with an individual in my inherited property, but I now wish to sell this. I have 12 months notice written in to the agreement, which I am happy to honour, but I was keen to understand the process aside from issuing them a section 21 notice. Do I need a witness or solicitor to confirm I have issued this to them or is asking the tenant to sign the notice sufficient? I'm concerned that when it comes to them leaving, they won't and they'll deny knowledge of being served notice. 

Any help is appreciated. I have never served notice to a tenant and this is an inherited porperty.

You have a 12 month notice period written into the tenancy agreement? That is very unusual. 

A Section 21 notice does not have to be witnessed nor does the tenant have to sign the notice. 

Yes, it wasn't setup by me, but by my mother who I inherited the house and tenant from over ten years ago. We've just kept the agreement on-going as I was happy to rent this out, but would like to sell now. I'm not sure why they gave 12 months notice, I think it was for security for the tenant. 

Slithery

Is everything in place for the S21 to be valid?

EICR, gas safety report, EPC etc etc
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction/how_to_check_a_section_21_notice_is_valid

stu2500

Slithery said:

Is everything in place for the S21 to be valid?

EICR, gas safety report, EPC etc etc
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction/how_to_check_a_section_21_notice_is_valid

Yes, everything is in place and has been regularly maintained as required over the years. I don't know why a 12 month notice period was put in place but this is out of my hands and I'll have to honour this.

letsbetfair

As well as serving formal notice, you might want to informally speak to the tenant. It could be in both your interests to agree something else - e.g. you might offer to release the tenant early if they find somewhere and want to move out sooner. With the unusual 12 month notice period it also sounds like the tenancy might have went beyond a purely commercial one - so an offer to speak to the tenant might be polite, and help to smooth things over.

stu2500

letsbetfair said:

As well as serving formal notice, you might want to informally speak to the tenant. It could be in both your interests to agree something else - e.g. you might offer to release the tenant early if they find somewhere and want to move out sooner. With the unusual 12 month notice period it also sounds like the tenancy might have went beyond a purely commercial one - so an offer to speak to the tenant might be polite, and help to smooth things over.

Goes without saying, I'll be politely speaking to them and doing everything correctly, not just issuing them notice. We know them personally, therefore, will be sensitive about the situation. Thanks again for your input, much appreciated.

deannagone

You could offer them a decent sum of money to move out with shorter notice. I suspect it will have to be a significant sum.

saajan_12

You could also sell with the tenants in situ, and let another LL step into your shoes. Particularly if they have been good tenants, are paying rent on time, in an amount in line with the market.