Too Risky To Accept Notice From Landlord?

theoretica

Oh_bother said:

@Sunsaru I think they are planning to market the property whatever we agree. They have a gardener and an estate agent coming round in a couple of weeks.

@theoretica We have been up front with the progress and told them we don’t have a definite date yet. I think this is what has prompted them trying to fix a ‘latest date’. They haven’t offered any benefit for us to agree. I would probably be happier to agree to end of July and then give earlier notice if possible.

I think I’m going to have to work out the costs and have some difficult discussions.

I see no reason you should agree to anything - unless the landlord makes it worth you doing so.  You are keeping them fully informed, you have every intention of moving out at a time that will match their wishes, but why should you be the one to protect your landlord form any delays caused by your developer?

Oh_bother

Thanks all. I think that is the point I need to focus on - he wants to de-risk the sale by marketing it in the best months, by pushing all the risk of an early exit on to us. It doesn’t make sense. 

My concern is that if they go ahead and give us notice to quit at end of June anyway, will we be liable for double rent if we don’t go? 

RAS

NO!

You will have to pay your normal rent until the end of the tenancy, unless you get a valid S13 to increase it.

If YOU give notice and stay one day late, then you have to pay double rent.

Oh_bother

Thanks @RAS That’s good to know. Thinking about it, I don’t see any benefit to us - except for possibly saving ourselves up to one months rent if the house is ready early June.

canaldumidi

Are you still anxting about this? The advice, both legal and practical, has ben clear from everyone - why are you still unsure what to do.....?!

Sunsaru

canaldumidi said:

Are you still anxting about this? The advice, both legal and practical, has ben clear from everyone - why are you still unsure what to do.....?!

Maybe they don't want to cause any bad blood between themselves and their landlords?

Jumblebumble

GoogleMeNow said:

Oh_bother said:

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.

As you are on a rolling contract, I would think you need to give your landlord 1 month's notice, so when you receive the 10 days completion notice from the developer, hand your 1 month's notice to your landlord.  This gives you an extra overlap of two weeks to move out of the rental and doesn't leave you with any risk of being homeless and having to make two moves.  I would think that as your landlord appears to be reasonable, that this would not inconvenience him very much. 

This is not correct
There is nothing to stop the OP asking the landlord if they will agree to terminate the Tenancy by mutual agreement on the day after completion
Since the Landlord wants them gone ASAP I assume that they would have no reason to insist on the month's notice

Oh_bother

Thanks all. @Sunsaru is right, we don’t want any bad blood - and frankly I could do without the additional stress. We’ll say we will stick to 1 month notice and possibly move sooner with agreement. Hopefully house will be ready on time ant all of this will be a moot point.

badger09

Oh_bother said:

Thanks all. @Sunsaru is right, we don’t want any bad blood - and frankly I could do without the additional stress. We’ll say we will stick to 1 month notice and possibly move sooner with agreement. Hopefully house will be ready on time ant all of this will be a moot point.

Good decision. There is absolutely no benefit to you to take on the additional risk of agreeing to landlord's date, just to 'be nice'. You can be perfectly polite, but stand your ground. 

If your OH is still not convinced - show them this thread

Good luck with the move

Oh_bother

Thank you everyone 😊. 

After all that stress and worry it looks like the house is going to be ready a month early! So we may be moving much sooner than we thought.