Advice on ending tenancy

Mimi123456

RAS said:

I haven't re-read the whole thread again, but have they actually issued a valid section 21 notice? Because without that you could still be there next year.

Remember, letting agents no not require ANY training in tenancy law. 

No, I’m pretty sure none of their communication qualifies as S21. They first let me know they are selling late last year. But when I attempted to move the agent called me and said ‘oh I think there was a misunderstanding, we are not asking you to leave, as long as you allow viewings you can stay and then once we find a buyer we give you a 2month notice’. So then we signed a 3month extension because I insisted and felt more comfortable that way.  

And last time I heard was an email from 6 Feb saying ‘the landlord wants you to know you can not stay beyond 13 march’
which even if it remotely qualifies as a 2month notice under S21, still only expires on 6 April.

as for the latter - that’s a shame! I think some level of understanding of housing law should be mandatory for EA. Otherwise both tenants and landlords suffer. 

hazyjo

I think they do know, they're deliberately saying something in the hope you're not aware of its meaning.

Just say, that's great, I'm not looking to extend. I will however be staying on a periodic/rolling contract (as I'm sure you're aware is my legal right) until I give notice.

Or words to that extent.

RAS

Well, it's not your job to educate them any more than is necessary to stay put until you want to leave.

But should the new place be hit by a tornado in the next week, you'll be secure where you are until you find a new place, even if your dozy letting agency get their act together.

I assume that your rental contract includes an address for the serving of notices?  You need to use that when you give notice, unless your LL agrees to an early surrender. 

Have you double checked your deposit is secured and were you given the prescribed information?

canaldumidi

It seems obvious to me that they are not going to 'agree' with you, either because they are ignorant, or because they hope to scare you into leaving (seems to be workng!).

So stop communicating. Don't reply. If you do, you'll just encourage an endless back/forth email exchange that will go nowhere.

You've told them what you intend to do, which is perfectly legal, so now wait till your fixed term ends, wait one more day, and you'll have a periodic tenancy. No need to discuss further.

No - they have not served you a S21 Notice, and even if they have, or they do, it will take months from the end of your fixed term to enforce it.

Stop anxting!

Mimi123456

RAS said:

I assume that your rental contract includes an address for the serving of notices?  You need to use that when you give notice, unless your LL agrees to an early surrender. 

Have you double checked your deposit is secured and were you given the prescribed information?

Yes there is the agency mailbox for notice giving. 

And in terms of deposit they did everything by the book. It’s protected, I was given all the info on deposit and other like safety certificates, EPC etc

Mimi123456

canaldumidi said:

It seems obvious to me that they are not going to 'agree' with you, either because they are ignorant, or because they hope to scare you into leaving (seems to be workng!).

So stop communicating. Don't reply. If you do, you'll just encourage an endless back/forth email exchange 

Yes you’re right. looks like their plan is to threaten me with legal actions or me breaking my contract terms or smth

the bit that puzzles me is why they don’t want to do right and best thing for their client, the landlord.
it’s in his interest to just give me those two weeks rather than get the keys a month later

SusieT

Mimi123456 said:

canaldumidi said:

It seems obvious to me that they are not going to 'agree' with you, either because they are ignorant, or because they hope to scare you into leaving (seems to be workng!).

So stop communicating. Don't reply. If you do, you'll just encourage an endless back/forth email exchange 

Yes you’re right. looks like their plan is to threaten me with legal actions or me breaking my contract terms or smth

the bit that puzzles me is why they don’t want to do right and best thing for their client, the landlord.
it’s in his interest to just give me those two weeks rather than get the keys a month later

They are just being idiots, if they did everything by the book when you started, then they appear to know the rules and what they should be doing. As a guess, the landlord has told the agent that they want the property back, agent has said yes landlord of course we can do that for you with no problem, and are now in panic as they have discovered that simply saying dear Mimi123456 please go elsewhere and give our friend the landlord his property back is not actually something they can legally do. IF they even thought about taking action, the first thing would be asked is have they given correct notice - answer is no so they fail at the first point. All they can now do is bluster and bully, and do all they can to scare you.

I would also just stop communicating, and if they contact you and you feel you really must answer, simply point out that they have not given you correct notice in line with the contract. That will give you more than the 2 weeks that you need. It is so stupid of them to behave like this, when they could have made things easy for everyone involved. 

saajan_12

For now, do nothing - no benefit in continuing the circular dialogue. Maybe when the 14 Mar rolls around and they realise you're still there, they might realise its better to negotiate sensibly rather than insist on something they can't enforce. 

Mimi123456

Thank you all! 

One outstanding Q I have is what happens if they now decide to serve me S21 notice?

Can I then serve a notice on periodic tenancy and move after 1 month?
or will I be liable for 2 months rent as the notice period under S21 is 2 months?

PRAISETHESUN

Mimi123456@canaldumidi id:

Thank you all! 

One outstanding Q I have is what happens if they now decide to serve me S21 notice?

Can I then serve a notice on periodic tenancy and move after 1 month?
or will I be liable for 2 months rent as the notice period under S21 is 2 months?

If you're going to make the LL play by the book, then you'll probably want to make sure you do everything by the book as well. Worth reading the posts @canaldumidi linked to earlier in the thread.

The LL/agent serving S21 does not impact your ability to serve notice in any way. You are free to serve notice at any point, even if it conflicts with the S21 notice dates. From what everyone has said, you should be moving onto a SPT, which I believe only requires you to give 1+ month's notice, ending on the last date of a tenancy period.