Does a S21 notice apply even when it's the end of an AST?

onlyrenting

Hi all,

We're currently renting and we moved in on 15/12/2019 on a 2 year contract. Landlord has called us up, wanting to increase the rent on the next contract, but we did not accept those terms, and told him we will finish these 2 years and then move out on 15/12/2021, which is when our contract ends.

I assumed that you don't need a notice if the contract is just coming to an end, but a work colleague is telling it needs to be a 2 month S21 notice anyway, regardless of the contract. I wouldn't mind having to leave in January instead, but I don't want the hassle if it means I have to fight my landlord about it.

So just wanted to ask a question here whether I need to be given a 2 month S21 notice, or is it not necessary in any way, because my contract simply ends?

Thanks in advance everyone!

Slithery

If your fixed term is coming to an end then no notice is required from you if you leave on the 14th.

However, if you stay until the 15th of December then you will automatically have moved onto a periodic contract for which notice is required as you are 1 day over your fixed term.

Read...

Ending/renewing an AST

canaldumidi

2 years fixed term from 15/12/19 will expire on 14/12/21. If you stay till 15th you will need to a) serve notice and b) pay for the period 15/12/21 - 14/1/22.

But to answer your question, if you, the tenant, leave on (or before) 14/12/21 then the tenancy will end on 14/12/21. No notice is required by you (though it is polite, and helpful for both parties, if you communicate your intentions).

If the landlord wants the tenancy to end (at any time, including 14/12/21) then he must serve you a S21 Notice.

For more, read

Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

Snookie12cat

onlyrenting said:

Hi all,

We're currently renting and we moved in on 15/12/2019 on a 2 year contract. Landlord has called us up, wanting to increase the rent on the next contract, but we did not accept those terms, and told him we will finish these 2 years and then move out on 15/12/2021, which is when our contract ends.

I assumed that you don't need a notice if the contract is just coming to an end, but a work colleague is telling it needs to be a 2 month S21 notice anyway, regardless of the contract. I wouldn't mind having to leave in January instead, but I don't want the hassle if it means I have to fight my landlord about it.

So just wanted to ask a question here whether I need to be given a 2 month S21 notice, or is it not necessary in any way, because my contract simply ends?

Thanks in advance everyone!

An agreement only comes to an end by the serving of notice by the landlord, you give the required notice, or you can legally leave at the end of the fixed term with no notice (not a nice thing to do though). The landlord must issue a s21 (which is currently 6 months in Wales and I think 4 in England) to end your agreement, and to increase your rent, he must issue the correct forms informing you of the rent increase and give you a minimum of one months notice to do this in line with your rent due date.

As a tenant, the end of the fixed term legally can signify the end of your contract and you are not required to give notice, however its not a nice thing to do, and would recommend you let the landlord know in advance. 

Snookie12cat

Read here on rent increases. If you do not get the Section 13 form, he cant increase it and hes missed the deadline to increase it from 15th Dec, so the earliest now is Jan 15th.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases

Jenni_D

Obvious question overlooked? .... do you have somewhere else to live if you moved out on the 14th Dec?

saajan_12

onlyrenting said:

Hi all,

We're currently renting and we moved in on 15/12/2019 on a 2 year contract. Landlord has called us up, wanting to increase the rent on the next contract, but we did not accept those terms, and told him we will finish these 2 years and then move out on 15/12/2021, which is when our contract ends.- that would be 2 years + 1 day. Leave by 14th Dec if you don't want to start the next month. Also there are other options eg staying on a periodic tenancy, you don't necessarily have to agree to a new fixed term / rent increase. 

I assumed that you don't need a notice if the contract is just coming to an end, but a work colleague is telling it needs to be a 2 month S21 notice anyway, regardless of the contract. - Section 21 notice is what the LL would have to serve if he wants the tenancy to end. Here you're choosing to leave, so you would either serve your own notice (no set format or section number) if specified in your contract / if on a periodic tenancy, or just leave by the end of a fixed term. 
I wouldn't mind having to leave in January instead, but I don't want the hassle if it means I have to fight my landlord about it.

So just wanted to ask a question here whether I need to be given a 2 month S21 notice, or is it not necessary in any way, because my contract simply ends?

Thanks in advance everyone!

Section 21 notice is for your LL. As you're at the end of a fixed term, you can just leave by 14th Dec and the tenancy will end. Check there's no contractual clause requiring notice in your contract. 
If you were on a periodic tenancy, you might need to serve notice, but that wouldn't be called 'section 21'. 

PRAISETHESUN

S21 is a notice that your LL serves you with, and is essentially a note asking "please can you leave by date XYZ?". It has no power by itself to compel you to leave until your LL takes you to court to get an eviction notice. As above, you can leave at the end of your fixed term otherwise you will need to provide notice in line with your TA once you roll onto a periodic tenancy. In either case, giving notice is the polite thing to do to help make the check out process much smoother for everyone involved.

Robbo66

Snookie12cat said:

onlyrenting said:

Hi all,

We're currently renting and we moved in on 15/12/2019 on a 2 year contract. Landlord has called us up, wanting to increase the rent on the next contract, but we did not accept those terms, and told him we will finish these 2 years and then move out on 15/12/2021, which is when our contract ends.

I assumed that you don't need a notice if the contract is just coming to an end, but a work colleague is telling it needs to be a 2 month S21 notice anyway, regardless of the contract. I wouldn't mind having to leave in January instead, but I don't want the hassle if it means I have to fight my landlord about it.

So just wanted to ask a question here whether I need to be given a 2 month S21 notice, or is it not necessary in any way, because my contract simply ends?

Thanks in advance everyone!

An agreement only comes to an end by the serving of notice by the landlord, you give the required notice, or you can legally leave at the end of the fixed term with no notice (not a nice thing to do though). The landlord must issue a s21 (which is currently 6 months in Wales and I think 4 in England) to end your agreement, and to increase your rent, he must issue the correct forms informing you of the rent increase and give you a minimum of one months notice to do this in line with your rent due date.

As a tenant, the end of the fixed term legally can signify the end of your contract and you are not required to give notice, however its not a nice thing to do, and would recommend you let the landlord know in advance. - S 21 now back to 2 months, would be somewhat mean spirited to just vacate at the end of the fixed term without notifying the Landlord by way of a notice

Read here on rent increases. If you do not get the Section 13 form, he cant increase it and hes missed the deadline to increase it from 15th Dec, so the earliest now is Jan 15th.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases

Incorrect as well, a rent increase can be applied without using a section 13 notice if a rent increase clause is already in the AST agreement

As already asked do you have somewhere else to go, rental property is currently in very short supply and give the time of the year even more so

canaldumidi

Snookie12cat said:

 If you do not get the Section 13 form, he cant increase it and hes missed the deadline to increase it from 15th Dec, so the earliest now is Jan 15th.

A S13 Notice only apples in specific circumstances:

* where the AST is periodic

* where the AST has no rent increase clause within it

* where an AST is not being renewed ie as here a new fixed term is being offered/negotiated

onlyrenting

Hi all, thanks for the very helpful replies! Some answers to hopefully clarify things:

1.) We don't yet have a next place rented, but we've never struggled with that in the past, and from making a few enquiries in the last 24 hours, it seems very promising, so I am not worried about that. But of course, I am aware that nothing is certain until we have agreed a let elsewhere!

2.) We're not just going to up and leave without telling the landlord about it, that would be rude! He called us up, saying he wants to increase the rent on the new contract, but we said it's too much for us.

3.) He offered for us to leave on 01/01/2022 (presumably to make it less hectic for both of us) where we would just pay him half a rent more to cover that period. But moving on 01/01/2021 sounds like a nightmare, so that doesn't work for us! We might ask him whether he wants 15/01/2021 instead, or just to stick to 15/12/2021 as we originally discussed.

4. I didn't know the 14/12/2021 comes into play, rather than 15/12/2021! The AST that we all signed states "Term: a fixed term of 24 months, commencing on and including 15/12/2019, to and including 15/12/2021"

5.) We do not actually want to leave (it is a hassle), but an increase from £700 to £775 was too much for us to stomach, and other properties in the area still hover around £675 - £700!

6.) The landlord said he would like to keep us, but needs to increase the rent because he got a remortgage through with his bank, with a higher interest rate on his mortgage, so he needs more rent. Which is fair enough, but we just don't see how the property would be worth that much! (when we originally moved into the property 2 years ago, he wanted £800 for it but it was empty for three months, so we then compromised on £700, but for that we took a 2 year contract!)

7.) There are no mentions of rent increases in our AST, it wasn't a "rent increase notice", he just called us up and we discussed it!