Rental Notice

diddly74

macman said:

Tell him that if he will not agree to end your tenancy on 31/10/22, then you will lose the 'new place' and therefore cannot vacate in 2 months after he serves you formal notice by way of an S21.  There is  no requirement to vacate at the end of the 2 month notice period anyway: you can remain until such time a a court grants a possession order, which would be probably 6m down the line. from the end of your notice period.

But I want the new house. I'm emotionally ready to leave now. 

dimbo61

" Landlord won't allow us to leave "
But he wants to sell the property with Vacant possession ( IE you moving )
Have his cake and eat it comes to mind !
You have put yourself out by looking for a new home suitable for your family and ( nearly ) signing up to a new more expensive ? Home.
I am willing to bet the LL will be so stupid as too ask you to pay rent till the end of your tenancy once you have served notice.
When did you move in and what date did your tenancy start ? 
You want to serve notice on the 20th and move out 11 days later ( and stop paying rent !) 
Normally you give at least 1 month's notice to line up with your tenancy start date

diddly74

Thanks, Dimbo61 and Titus and Macman - for your support, I'm not stupid just never done this before.  This was the first property we have rented, always owned before, and having been here 12.5 years and trying for the past 10months to buy the property and saving hard I was just trying to do my best for both my family and the landlord who wants the property to sell and in this climate who knows how long that will take to complete - we were just not able to reach the mark we needed to for purchase.

I want to work with him/them and give them what they want whilst ensuring I am not left too of pocket - cos when it comes down to it no one else is going to look after my wallet are they! So, whilst asking and hoping for help on here I have also been reading articles from Shelter, Citizens Advice etc - but they can be ambiguous.

I need to give a month's notice - but advice is also to discuss this with the landlord and see if he will compromise.  I thought our conversation on 1/10/22 was him giving me notice that I had 2 months' notice to move (he did say we could stay until 31/12/22 but who moves on New Year?) - now I know that he had to deliver a S21 in writing, and then go through the process of "evicting" us if we didn't shift! So, I started the ball rolling and now if I back down on moving into the new property on 31/10/22 surely, I am in danger of losing that house?  We have passed all the referencing etc.  Houses are going pretty quick in our area and if we lose this house, I'm afraid we wouldn't find another in our price range as good a fit for us.  I don't want bad blood between me and the landlords but I'm having sleepless nights over this - as I suppose many people are over their mortgages and bills.

So your advice and knowledge are VERY much appreciated - I will not be leaving this home in a mess, I just want to do it in the best and cheapest way for me, and the longer I am here the longer I am liable for bills.

Gycraig

I would be pushing back hard tbh he doesn’t need to know the reality of your situation “look you either let me leave on the 31st of October or I will stay until a court removes me which could take 6 months to a year and cost you a fortune, balls in your court pal” 

What an absolute joker this landlord is messing about what sounds like a perfect tenant. 

saajan_12

Re the notice, it depends on 
- what your last contract says if anything -> then follow that
- when your tenancy periods are (may be in line with rent payments or move in date, may not be)

You either follow what your contract said (CPT) or if thats silent then its 1 tenancy period. So eg if that's 10th -> 9th of the next month, then giving notice now could expire on 9th Dec at the earliest. However you'd have until 10th Nov to serve the notice with no effect on the expiry date, so may as well use some of that time to negotiate and worst case give notice. 

--
That's what you have a legal right to do. Then you can also negotiate and tell the LL that you can't afford such an overlap, so either they let you out sooner (say early Nov) or this house will go, can't find anything on the market, and will have to remain until evicted by courts. If the LL wants to sell soon, then this could be a strong negotiation tool. However if they told you LAST October and haven't made any moves in 12 months, then they might not be that keen and call your bluff. 

First step: figure out the dates on your contract. 

Titus_Wadd

Have I read your first post correctly, that on October 1st 22 the landlord gave you notice to leave within 2 months?  Was this in writing email etc or just in a conversation?  I don't know, but someone else will confirm...if you email LL to put in writing the notice he served on 1/10/22 that should allow you to leave at the end of Oct/ beginning of November.  There might be an odd day overlap.  If the notice period in the lease is one month, the fact he's saying you can stay for 2 doesn't force you to stay that long, or does it?  If the LL confirms he served notice on 1/10/22, you don't need to serve notice.  If the LL is uncertain of the law re notice maybe you can gently manoeuvre him towards accepting your preferred leaving date without penalty of an additional month's rent? Sorry if I'm just muddying the water, diddly.  Another forumite will clarify soon.

theartfullodger

You can leave (any tenant can leave) any time they like - eg this afternoon at 17:48.

Issue is have you or landlord issued notice to end tenancy  (and therefore liability for rent).

You are perfectly entitled to serve your valid notice which does not have to line up with landlord's notice.

Artful,:. Landlord since 2000

saajan_12

Titus_Wadd said:

Have I read your first post correctly, that on October 1st 22 the landlord gave you notice to leave within 2 months?  Was this in writing email etc or just in a conversation?  I don't know, but someone else will confirm...if you email LL to put in writing the notice he served on 1/10/22 that should allow you to leave at the end of Oct/ beginning of November.  - No, any notice from the LL would only be to go to court. The LL cannot give any kind of notice to end the tenancy. So OP at the end of the LL's notice, the tenancy is unaffected and rent would continue.. There might be an odd day overlap.  If the notice period in the lease is one month, the fact he's saying you can stay for 2 doesn't force you to stay that long, or does it? - no, the lease says 2 months, which OP posted already.  If the LL confirms he served notice on 1/10/22, you don't need to serve notice. - No, OP would need to serve notice too if they wanted to leave. 
 If the LL is uncertain of the law re notice maybe you can gently manoeuvre him towards accepting your preferred leaving date without penalty of an additional month's rent? - sounds like LL is perfectly aware of the law, . OP is uncertain (although learning). Sorry if I'm just muddying the water, diddly.  Another forumite will clarify soon.

No, to most of what you said. Other forumites have already clarified the legal situation. Please don't post incorrect information if you're just guessing / wishing. 

Titus_Wadd

saajan_12 said:

Titus_Wadd said:

Have I read your first post correctly, that on October 1st 22 the landlord gave you notice to leave within 2 months?  Was this in writing email etc or just in a conversation?  I don't know, but someone else will confirm...if you email LL to put in writing the notice he served on 1/10/22 that should allow you to leave at the end of Oct/ beginning of November.  - No, any notice from the LL would only be to go to court. The LL cannot give any kind of notice to end the tenancy. So OP at the end of the LL's notice, the tenancy is unaffected and rent would continue.. There might be an odd day overlap.  If the notice period in the lease is one month, the fact he's saying you can stay for 2 doesn't force you to stay that long, or does it? - no, the lease says 2 months, which OP posted already.  If the LL confirms he served notice on 1/10/22, you don't need to serve notice. - No, OP would need to serve notice too if they wanted to leave. 
 If the LL is uncertain of the law re notice maybe you can gently manoeuvre him towards accepting your preferred leaving date without penalty of an additional month's rent? - sounds like LL is perfectly aware of the law, . OP is uncertain (although learning). Sorry if I'm just muddying the water, diddly.  Another forumite will clarify soon.

No, to most of what you said. Other forumites have already clarified the legal situation. Please don't post incorrect information if you're just guessing / wishing. 

My bad,  I was thinking aloud,  which I can see wasn't helping.