Too Risky To Accept Notice From Landlord?

Oh_bother

Hi,
I’m looking for a little advice please.

We currently rent and are in the process of buying a new build property. We have exchanged contracts and have been given a rough guideline for completion of end of May/June. The house is almost complete, it has been decorated, kitchen and appliances are in, garden level raised and plumbing done. Road and paths almost completed and services connected. Flooring is due to be done soon. Completion is on 10 day’s notice.

We have a good relationship with our landlords who are planning to sell the house once we leave. They are hoping to sell over the Summer and have proposed giving us 3 months notice up to the end of June. 

Is it too risky to accept this? I understand why they would like to do this, but my concern is what if completion hasn’t taken place by the end of June? Equally, I don’t feel it is entirely reasonable not giving or accepting some kind of notice until we get the 10 day notice from the developer. As a FTB I’m not entirely sure how much more work is needed on the house until it is ready for NHBC inspection. The developer has said there is currently no update on the completion date as yet.

Thank you

canaldumidi

You cannot 'accept or refuse' notice. If the LL serves you valid notice that's it - notice served!

However if you are talking about a mutual agreement to surrender your tenancy on a specific date, yes, of course it's a risk! Your new home may or may not be ready, and if you fail to leave on the agreed date, double rent can be charged.

Since both your plans coincide (you want to leave, date unknown. LL wants you to leave, excact date not required) why not agree to wait till you have Exchanged contracts, then surrender your tenancy by agreement at that point and LL can start selling?

Worth also pointing out that asuming this is England/Wales, and you have a periodic (rolling) AST, then even if the LL does serve you valid notice (via a S21 Notice), that does not end the tenancy. You could stay and the tenancy continues till he gets a court possession order - another 3 months?

badger09

canaldumidi said:

You cannot 'accept or refuse' notice. If the LL serves you valid notice that's it - notice served!

However if you are talking about a mutual agreement to surrender your tenancy on a specific date, yes, of course it's a risk! Your new home may or may not be ready, and if you fail to leave on the agreed date, double rent can be charged.

Since both your plans coincide (you want to leave, date unknown. LL wants you to leave, excact date not required) why not agree to wait till you have Exchanged contracts, then surrender your tenancy by agreement at that point and LL can start selling?

Worth also pointing out that asuming this is England/Wales, and you have a periodic (rolling) AST, then even if the LL does serve you valid notice (via a S21 Notice), that does not end the tenancy. You could stay and the tenancy continues till he gets a court possession order - another 3 months?

OP is buying a new build and has already exchanged contracts. 

badger09

As you have a good relationship with your landlord I would tell him you hope to be able to move into your new house in June, but until you have a definite date, you won’t be giving notice or agreeing to vacate by any date. 

If you get an earlier completion date, you could then perhaps come to a mutually convenient arrangement. 

Oh_bother

Thanks, yes we have exchanged. We are hoping to come to a mutual agreement with the landlords - I know we can’t “accept” or “decline” notice. What we would like to do is be pretty flexible with what the landlords want without shooting ourselves in the foot.

I suppose what I’d really like to know is, bearing in mind that we have exchanged and the progress on the build, in the balance of probabilities would agreeing to this be too risky? If we had to stay with a friend for a few days that wouldn’t be the end of the world, but more than a week would be problematic.

Oh_bother

Oh, I meant to add - we are on a rolling contract and know that in theory we could just stay put but we don’t want to go down that route.

sammyjammy

Oh_bother said:

Oh, I meant to add - we are on a rolling contract and know that in theory we could just stay put but we don’t want to go down that route.

So why not just give a months notice as required when you get the notice to complete?

badger09

You’re potentially racking up storage costs, not to mention 2 sets of removals.  If you don’t have much stuff, that might not matter. 

Having moved twice within 4-5 weeks, last year, I can say it was very expensive & stressful. 

Why risk it?

canaldumidi

badger09 said:

canaldumidi said:

You cannot 'accept or refuse' notice. If the LL serves you valid notice that's it - notice served!

However if you are talking about a mutual agreement to surrender your tenancy on a specific date, yes, of course it's a risk! Your new home may or may not be ready, and if you fail to leave on the agreed date, double rent can be charged.

Since both your plans coincide (you want to leave, date unknown. LL wants you to leave, excact date not required) why not agree to wait till you have Exchanged contracts, then surrender your tenancy by agreement at that point and LL can start selling?

Worth also pointing out that asuming this is England/Wales, and you have a periodic (rolling) AST, then even if the LL does serve you valid notice (via a S21 Notice), that does not end the tenancy. You could stay and the tenancy continues till he gets a court possession order - another 3 months?

OP is buying a new build and has already exchanged contracts. 

True. So substitute "when you receive 10 day’s notice to Complete" for "when you Exchange". Advice is the same.

Oh_bother said:

..

I suppose what I’d really like to know is, bearing in mind that we have exchanged and the progress on the build, in the balance of probabilities would agreeing to this be too risky? If we had to stay with a friend for a few days that wouldn’t be the end of the world, but more than a week would be problematic.

Any firm agreement at this stage is risky. You really have no idea when you'll get notice to complete there are toomany variables.

Oh_bother

Yes I see your points. Looking at the message from the landlords, they want to pin us down to a latest date so they can make plans. But they do say it is to protect them and their potential sale window if there is any unforeseen delay in us moving. 

This is what was niggling me, my OH is all for agreeing. 

Hmm lots to consider here - so basically we would be taking on all the risk and potential costs of storage and moving twice.

diggingdude

Don't agree, you risk making yourself homeless. Are you tempted to avoid having to give a month's notice/paying rent for that period? You need to balance up whether the risk is worth it. I wouldn't choose to personally