Advice please on ending my tenancy and exchange of contracts

WickedWitch123

Hello lovely people
I am looking for some advice please as my head is spinning a little.  I am just at the point of exchange of contracts on my new home (likely to be next week).  I am currently renting and have rolling monthly contract (periodic tenancy).  I moved in to this property on 16th April 2019 so am I correct in thinking that I have to submit my 1 months' notice on the 16th of the month??  Also, although i moved in on the 16th, i actually pay my rent on the 1st of each month.  Does this change anything (ie should my notice be dated from the 1st)?

Sorry last question, is it ok to exchange on the 16th March and complete one month later?  The vendors have already moved out so no issue with their onward move but I imagine they just want this sewn up soon after exchange. If i leave here early though i'd be paying 2 lots of everything until my tenancy ends.

Hope that all makes sense!
WW

Exodi

You should look at your tenancy agreement and see what it says about notice.

It likely requires you to serve notice up to the first rent day plus a month. There is no reason to deliberately wait till the 16th, and this also invites risk. You'd fair better serving notice asap (assuming you are confident that exchange will happen) and confirming in your notice that you will vacate the property by the 16th April.

The day you pay your rent is largely irrelevant. 

Exodi

WickedWitch123 said:

Sorry last question, is it ok to exchange on the 16th March and complete one month later?  The vendors have already moved out so no issue with their onward move but I imagine they just want this sewn up soon after exchange. If i leave here early though i'd be paying 2 lots of everything until my tenancy ends.

The vendors probably won't be thrilled at the idea, but it's possible.

WickedWitch123

Exodi said:

You should look at your tenancy agreement and see what it says about notice.

It likely requires you to serve notice up to the first rent day plus a month. There is no reason to deliberately wait till the 16th, and this also invites risk. You'd fair better serving notice asap (assuming you are confident that exchange will happen) and confirming in your notice that you will vacate the property by the 16th April.

The day you pay your rent is largely irrelevant. 

Thanks for your reply.  I'm not confident enough to serve notice until contracts are exchanged, its too big a risk for me as I don't want to then get into difficulties if it all falls through or is delayed.  

yes i imagine the vendors won't want the big gap between exchange and completion but it doesn't hold up their move (which i understand is only one consideration).

Exodi

Is it possible to exchange slightly earlier?

You're playing with fire by trying to serve exactly one months notice on the day you are supposed to exchange. My last exchange was delayed two days, plus there's risks that the notice may not be properly received and you may be on the hook for a whole additional month.

Mahsroh

Firstly on the tenancy, check with the LL / Letting agent. We had the same thing where the tenancy starting date was 25th of the month and the rental payment made on 1st of the month (first month when moving in we effectively paid 1 week and 1 month). The tenancy agreement wasn't clear as in my mind (as said above) it should be the starting date, however it made reference to the payment date also being the notice date so I asked the Letting Agent to be told be told we could work with either!  

As for "paying two lots of everything" this may not be the case.....Usually Rent is paid a month in advance but your first mortgage payment will be paid at least a month after completing, so with the exception of council tax and some utility bills (which will be low as you won't be living in one of the properties) but as far as rent / mortgage goes you'll likely only have one to pay within each pay cycle if that makes sense. 

Our timeline was as follows:

25th Nov - Exchanged and handed notice on Rental Property
26th Nov - Completed purchase
29th Nov - Moved
1st Dec - Final Rental Payment (reduced as only paying until 24th rather than a full calendar month)
24th Dec - Tenancy ended
1st Jan - First Mortgage payment

Only real duplication of cost was a months worth of council tax. Was also nice having plenty of time to get our rental property cleaned and ready to hand back. 

Slithery

WickedWitch123 said:

If i leave here early though i'd be paying 2 lots of everything until my tenancy ends.

Perfectly standard to have a few weeks overlap and something you should have already budgeted for before deciding to purchase a property.

alex_163163

Regarding the time between exchange and completion, a d the end of your tenancy, if you can afford it I really would recommend having at least a few days overlap.
Having time to clean the new place, or paint / put in flooring, before you have to move all your belongings in is a really convenient thing to have. 

When you have to complete on the purchase, hand back your rental keys, move everything in and out on the same day - it really can be stressful.

allow yourself some overlap, and just suck up the double costs for a few days if you can. 

WickedWitch123

Exodi said:

Is it possible to exchange slightly earlier?

You're playing with fire by trying to serve exactly one months notice on the day you are supposed to exchange. My last exchange was delayed two days, plus there's risks that the notice may not be properly received and you may be on the hook for a whole additional month.

sorry i think you have slightly misunderstood my question.  Exchange is likely to take place next week so my question was whether I had to wait until the 16th (the following week) to submit my notice on the rental.  

WickedWitch123

Mahsroh said:

Firstly on the tenancy, check with the LL / Letting agent. We had the same thing where the tenancy starting date was 25th of the month and the rental payment made on 1st of the month (first month when moving in we effectively paid 1 week and 1 month). The tenancy agreement wasn't clear as in my mind (as said above) it should be the starting date, however it made reference to the payment date also being the notice date so I asked the Letting Agent to be told be told we could work with either!  

As for "paying two lots of everything" this may not be the case.....Usually Rent is paid a month in advance but your first mortgage payment will be paid at least a month after completing, so with the exception of council tax and some utility bills (which will be low as you won't be living in one of the properties) but as far as rent / mortgage goes you'll likely only have one to pay within each pay cycle if that makes sense. 

Our timeline was as follows:

25th Nov - Exchanged and handed notice on Rental Property
26th Nov - Completed purchase
29th Nov - Moved
1st Dec - Final Rental Payment (reduced as only paying until 24th rather than a full calendar month)
24th Dec - Tenancy ended
1st Jan - First Mortgage payment

Only real duplication of cost was a months worth of council tax. Was also nice having plenty of time to get our rental property cleaned and ready to hand back. 

Thank you that's really helpful.  You're right about "two lots of everything" it might not be that much and its worth having a few days overlap.

Thank you.

WickedWitch123

Slithery said:

WickedWitch123 said:

If i leave here early though i'd be paying 2 lots of everything until my tenancy ends.

Perfectly standard to have a few weeks overlap and something you should have already budgeted for before deciding to purchase a property.

Sorry i'm not familiar with buying from a rental so i'm not used to there being an overlap.  When i have bought in the past you complete and then move, there's nothing to overlap.