Advice on ending tenancy

Mimi123456

On the 6th of Feb they sent me this:

I replied with ‘noted’ at the time, so I acknowledged this.
i assumed I would surely find something but the market is just very bad now so after three weeks of like 30 viewings and 5 unsuccessful offers I managed to find a place where I can only move at the end of March. 

Does it count as a notice on their side?
they already set up an inventory check for the 14th.

Gycraig

Mimi123456 said:

On the 6th of Feb they sent me this:

I replied with ‘noted’ at the time, so I acknowledged this.
i assumed I would surely find something but the market is just very bad now so after three weeks of like 30 viewings and 5 unsuccessful offers I managed to find a place where I can only move at the end of March. 

Does it count as a notice on their side?
they already set up an inventory check for the 14th.

Just tell them you don’t plan to move out until so and so date. If they have any common sense they will take it as a massive favour that your moving out rather than forcing them to kick you out through the courts. 

The 2 months is simply the legal notice before they can consider applying to the court To have you removed. 

You are under no obligation to move out unless you want to or they take it to court and then get high court bailiffs to remove you from the property, which will take 6-12 months. 

They are being shady in how they are writing things. A tenancy continues until a court ends it or you decide you don’t want to live there, the estate agent can’t do anything 

saajan_12

Mimi123456 said:

Thank you all.
my original contract doesn’t specify notice term after the fixed term expires. Unless I just do not understand it. - if it says nothing, then the default is you go onto a SPT with notice period being 1 tenancy period. So you can serve 1 full months notice and must expire on the 13th of a month. 
We first had a 12m contract and recently signed a 3m extension ending mid-March. In the expansion addendum it was specified that the tenancy will ‘absolutely cease’ at the termination of ‘the tenancy created by this addendum’
not sure how to interpret it 😕 - so debatable whether that 'absolutely cease' wording constitutes an agreement for an early termination.. 
there is also something about the notice but I’m not sure if that should fit within 3 months or can go beyond (see extract from extension addendum above)

if I just pay whole month rent for overstaying 2 weeks that’s fine as I would pay the same for AirBnB. Whereas if I have to pay 2 months rent I’d rather 

Mimi123456 said:

Here is the part about no provision to extend beyond end date 

From the wording:
(1)- "no proviso to extend" is meaningless as automatically going onto a periodic tenancy is not extending. You can only extend if you and LL both agree, at which point you can agree to override that term. 
(2)- "absolutely cease" MIGHT or might not be interpreted as a mutual termination agreement on 13th March. 

So under tenancy law, your tenancy automatically rolls into a SPT from the 14th March with notice being 1 full tenancy period (ie must expire on the 13th of a month. To evict you, they have to serve notice, go through court, etc. 
Under contract law, depending on the interpretation of (2) above, you MAY be deemed to breach a contractual agreement to leave by 13th March, in which case the LL could seek damages for any subsequent losses. For example if they had another tenant lined up and had to rehouse them for 2 weeks until you moved out. However this is actual costs they incurred, not just if it caused stress or worked out fine. 
I think this is unlikely, but just flagging as there is an outside chance. 

Mimi123456 said:

On the 6th of Feb they sent me this:

I replied with ‘noted’ at the time, so I acknowledged this.
i assumed I would surely find something but the market is just very bad now so after three weeks of like 30 viewings and 5 unsuccessful offers I managed to find a place where I can only move at the end of March. 

Does it count as a notice on their side?
they already set up an inventory check for the 14th.

No, notice from a LL has to be on a specific format based on what Section they are serving under. Don't worry about this email. 

theartfullodger

As above.  You do NOT have to move out.  Thatcher's 1988 Housing Act says so.

Best wishes.

Artful, Landlord since 2000

pinkshoes

Mimi123456 said:

On the 6th of Feb they sent me this:

I replied with ‘noted’ at the time, so I acknowledged this.
i assumed I would surely find something but the market is just very bad now so after three weeks of like 30 viewings and 5 unsuccessful offers I managed to find a place where I can only move at the end of March. 

Does it count as a notice on their side?
they already set up an inventory check for the 14th.

I would send them a note saying:

Dear Letting Agent/Landlord,

Thank you for your note on 6th Feb 2022 asking me to note that the tenancy cannot be renewed beyond 13th March 2022. I am happy to let the tenancy continue onto a periodic tenancy, and hereby give notice that I will continue my tenancy up to the 13th April 2022.

I have managed to secure another rental, so I am likely to vacate the property before this date on the 130th March 2022. Should you wish to have access to the property from this earlier date, then I will accept a rent rebate for the last two weeks of £X.

Kind regards,

YOU

canaldumidi

Look. It is a basic tenet of English law that statute law (ie Acts of Parliament) over-rule contract law. So whatever is written in the contract, or in any emails, letters or other communicatuons from the LL to you, is over-ruled by statute.

As was explained earlier, the Housing Act 1988 specifies that when the fixed term of a tenancy ends, a periodic tenancy continues automatically provided the tenant does not leave.

Did you read the link I gave you earlier?

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?

So your tenancy does not end in two weeks unless you leave.

Your options are as saajan expleained on the previous page.

Mimi123456

Thank you all very much for your replies! It’s very helpful. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 I will contact the letting agent today to see what they say.
If I can just stay these two extra weeks that would be very helpful for me as I would avoid packing and moving twice in a month and also hanging in some unknown place for 2 weeks with all my belongings.

One worry I have remaining is that 2month notice clause in the extension addendum.

I do not want to pay 2 whole months to overstay for 2 weeks.
do I understand correctly it doesn’t matter? As the periodic tenancy notice is always equal to the rental period frequency - e.g if I pay monthly it’s a one month notice?

Mimi123456

canaldumidi said:

Did you read the link I gave you earlier?

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?

So your tenancy does not end in two weeks unless you leave.

Your options are as saajan expleained on the previous page.

Yes, thank you very much canaldumidi! Very helpful information. I know it’s all written there but I’m just being very careful with how I interpret things. 

Do not want to get into any disputes or other legal troubles. My job industry is very unforgiving if you have any kind of history of disputes so that’s why I often err on the safe side and to be honest still thinking maybe it’s just easier to experience the inconvenience of moving twice and pay up than get into any kind of tensions.

SusieT

Mimi123456 said:

canaldumidi said:

Did you read the link I gave you earlier?

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?

So your tenancy does not end in two weeks unless you leave.

Your options are as saajan expleained on the previous page.

Yes, thank you very much canaldumidi! Very helpful information. I know it’s all written there but I’m just being very careful with how I interpret things. 

Do not want to get into any disputes or other legal troubles. My job industry is very unforgiving if you have any kind of history of disputes so that’s why I often err on the safe side and to be honest still thinking maybe it’s just easier to experience the inconvenience of moving twice and pay up than get into any kind of tensions.

Mimi123456 said:

canaldumidi said:

Did you read the link I gave you earlier?

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?

So your tenancy does not end in two weeks unless you leave.

Your options are as saajan expleained on the previous page.

Yes, thank you very much canaldumidi! Very helpful information. I know it’s all written there but I’m just being very careful with how I interpret things. 

Do not want to get into any disputes or other legal troubles. My job industry is very unforgiving if you have any kind of history of disputes so that’s why I often err on the safe side and to be honest still thinking maybe it’s just easier to experience the inconvenience of moving twice and pay up than get into any kind of tensions.

You cannot get into any dispute or legal trouble if you tell them (do not ask or discuss) that you are staying. However, they could get into legal trouble if they did not let you stay. 
Be firm and tell them that they have not given the correct notice, and that even if they had you would not have to leave until a court had told yo to. You are being good to them by going early so they should appreciate that rather than try to bully you.

saajan_12

Mimi123456 said:

Thank you all very much for your replies! It’s very helpful. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 I will contact the letting agent today to see what they say.
If I can just stay these two extra weeks that would be very helpful for me as I would avoid packing and moving twice in a month and also hanging in some unknown place for 2 weeks with all my belongings.

One worry I have remaining is that 2month notice clause in the extension addendum. - what 2 month notice clause? I thought it didn't say anything about notice after the fixed term? If it does, please quote. 

I do not want to pay 2 whole months to overstay for 2 weeks.
do I understand correctly it doesn’t matter? As the periodic tenancy notice is always equal to the rental period frequency - e.g if I pay monthly it’s a one month notice? -No,, its not always the same, could well be 2 months or whatever. Depends on whats written in the contract and IF NOTHING is written, only then its 1 period. 

Please quote exactly what the last contract says about notice after the fixed term. 

You likely have a right to stay beyond the fixed term (assuming the last contract doesn't consititute a mutual termination). However whether it makes sense for you to exercise this right depends on the contract.