Being served S21 and buying our house at the same time

SiliconChip

OliviaWw said:

Leggitte said:

People will probably advise that only a court can end a tenancy. In this case, just talk to your landlord, explain the situation and keep it amicable. Explain you are in the process of buying a house. I was in a similar situation several years ago (apart from the rent increase) and was open and frank to my landlord. He then decided to wait, and 2 months later I handed in my notice. Best option for both of us. I still bump into him now and then as I only bought a house 500 yards away. I always advise to keep it friendly where some others would go to court. 

We did tell the agent very openly that we’re buying a house, so will need to see how it goes before we can decide if we negotiate a contract or not/or when will we leave. 

We’re not on good terms with the letting agent.

I would suggest that in this case you bypass the agent and tell the landlord directly what your intentions are. They may not know what you plan to do if the agents are as poor as your comments indicate, and once they do know they may be happy for you to stay at the current rent until you exchange on your new home.

OliviaWw

Thank you, but we don’t know the landlord’s contact details. Berthing is through the agent unfortunately

OliviaWw

*everything

TripleH

Leggitte is right. If you can agree direct with the landlord in a friendly manner it is always better. (Obviously not possible if landlord is harder to get hold of).

Sometimes the letting agents are a law to themselves. We had endless hassle from one about an issue, but our landlord was none the wiser about it and we discussed it with them.

Once you have agreed, I'd ignore the letting agent bluster.

Snookie12cat

The S21 is invalid because it needs to be issued in line with the contractual dates being the 23rd of the month to expire on the 22nd of the month. 
Because it expires on 14th January it's not valid. 
They need to issue it again from 23rd December, giving you until 22nd February. 

Regardless, if your not ready to move into hot new home by that date, don't leave and they can't do anything. You will be long gone before it gets to court. 

OliviaWw

Snookie12cat said:

The S21 is invalid because it needs to be issued in line with the contractual dates being the 23rd of the month to expire on the 22nd of the month. 
Because it expires on 14th January it's not valid. 
They need to issue it again from 23rd December, giving you until 22nd February. 

Regardless, if your not ready to move into hot new home by that date, don't leave and they can't do anything. You will be long gone before it gets to court. 

Thank you! But we checked, as long as the expiry date is beyond 21st November, it is valid. It might be invalid for other reasons, but we’re currently treating it a valid notice and want to get prepared for that. 

SiliconChip

OliviaWw said:

Thank you, but we don’t know the landlord’s contact details. Berthing is through the agent unfortunately

As I understand it it's illegal for you not to be given landlord contact details. Regardless of that, it'll only cost you £3 to download ownership details for the property from the Land Registry.

Snookie12cat

OliviaWw said:

Snookie12cat said:

The S21 is invalid because it needs to be issued in line with the contractual dates being the 23rd of the month to expire on the 22nd of the month. 
Because it expires on 14th January it's not valid. 
They need to issue it again from 23rd December, giving you until 22nd February. 

Regardless, if your not ready to move into hot new home by that date, don't leave and they can't do anything. You will be long gone before it gets to court. 

Thank you! But we checked, as long as the expiry date is beyond 21st November, it is valid. It might be invalid for other reasons, but we’re currently treating it a valid notice and want to get prepared for that. 

Fair enough I am in Wales so maybe it's a little different here. 

Still, you do not have to leave and I would tell your landlord you are buying a house and will leave as soon as it's ready. Do not be forced out. He can't evict you without a court order.

OliviaWw

SiliconChip said:

OliviaWw said:

Thank you, but we don’t know the landlord’s contact details. Berthing is through the agent unfortunately

As I understand it it's illegal for you not to be given landlord contact details. Regardless of that, it'll only cost you £3 to download ownership details for the property from the Land Registry.

That’s interesting to know. We only have the landlord’s name. The address in the contract is the agent’s .

Robbo66

Snookie12cat said:

The S21 is invalid because it needs to be issued in line with the contractual dates being the 23rd of the month to expire on the 22nd of the month. 
Because it expires on 14th January it's not valid. 
They need to issue it again from 23rd December, giving you until 22nd February. 

Regardless, if your not ready to move into hot new home by that date, don't leave and they can't do anything. You will be long gone before it gets to court. 

There you go again giving information that isn't completely correct

A landlord can issue a Sec 21 at anytime except within the first 4 months of a fixed term and the notice period cannot end before the fixed term. The fact that the notice end date is in January makes it completely valid obviously providing the other criteria has been met.