Tenant notice

AskAsk

We have received an email from our tenant to state that he and his wife have rented a new house on 1 July in another area and they will be moving there by the end of the month.  His parents are also on the contract and he believes that they can stay on and he will continue to pay his half of the rent until September if required.  He plans to help his parents apply for housing benefit to help pay the rent.

My question is, can I take this as notice and explain to him that the contract will come to an end for everyone and that his parents can't stay on?  We want to take the house back to sell and this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

I don't know if he can change his mind and say he wants to stay on as his parents want to stay?

_Penny_Dreadful

AskAsk said:

We have received an email from our tenant to state that he and his wife have rented a new house on 1 July in another area and they will be moving there by the end of the month.  His parents are also on the contract and he believes that they can stay on and he will continue to pay his half of the rent until September if required.  He plans to help his parents apply for housing benefit to help pay the rent.

My question is, can I take this as notice and explain to him that the contract will come to an end for everyone and that his parents can't stay on?  We want to take the house back to sell and this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

I don't know if he can change his mind and say he wants to stay on as his parents want to stay?

I don’t think I’d rely on that email as valid notice. Firstly, does the tenancy agreement say email is an accepted method of serving notice? Secondly, there isn’t a full tenancy period left between now and 31st July. 

I reckon you’d still need to go down the section 21 route if you want the property back. 

AskAsk

_Penny_Dreadful said:

AskAsk said:

We have received an email from our tenant to state that he and his wife have rented a new house on 1 July in another area and they will be moving there by the end of the month.  His parents are also on the contract and he believes that they can stay on and he will continue to pay his half of the rent until September if required.  He plans to help his parents apply for housing benefit to help pay the rent.

My question is, can I take this as notice and explain to him that the contract will come to an end for everyone and that his parents can't stay on?  We want to take the house back to sell and this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

I don't know if he can change his mind and say he wants to stay on as his parents want to stay?

I don’t think I’d rely on that email as valid notice. Firstly, does the tenancy agreement say email is an accepted method of serving notice? Secondly, there isn’t a full tenancy period left between now and 31st July. 

I reckon you’d still need to go down the section 21 route if you want the property back. 

yeah, i had read on googling that the notice needs to be served in line with the contract, and our contract states that notice must be in writing, handed in person to our home address or posted to our home address.  so i agree that it would appear if that goes to court, he may claim it is an invalid notice.

i wondered if i could reply to say that effectively he has given notice, which will kick in at the next rent payment date, 30 July, so as the contract is a periodic contract, the tenancy will come to an end on 30 August.

HampshireH

Sounds like he was just letting know out of courtesy he was moving out.

His email clearly states an intention to remain by the other tenants.

Doesn't read like he isn't giving notice to me

AskAsk

HampshireH said:

Sounds like he was just letting know out of courtesy he was moving out.

His email clearly states an intention to remain by the other tenants.

Doesn't read like he isn't giving notice to me

AST would end if anyone on the contract gives notice, so his parents have no right to stay on if he gives notice, but as discussed, I don't think what he has said can be taken as formal notice if he fights it and says he was just telling us about the situation and that he will stay on the contract so his parents can stay as there is of course no law against someone renting more than one property and there is no law that the tenant must live at the property as his permanent and main home as far as I am aware.

propertyrental

* which country is this? Rules vary.

* who is named as 'The Tenant'? How many people?

* is this a fixed term or periodic AST?

* if periodic, is it Statutory or Contractual?

* if contractual what does the contract say about notice periods?

* does the tenancy agreement allow notice by email?

* does the email actually state he is serving notice to end the tenancy? Does not appear to do so.

* does the email state a specific date to end the tenancy (" will be moving there by the end of the month." Far too vague to constitute notice)

This does not appear to be valid notice. Tenancy continues (irrespective of who does or does not remain in occupation).

Full rent is due.

Assuming this is a 'joint and several' tenancy there is no 'his half' of the rent - all joint tenants remain equally liable for the full rent.

All the above subject to clarifying the Qs asked.

If you want to take the property back, serve a S21 Notice (or S8 if applicable).

_Penny_Dreadful

AskAsk said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

AskAsk said:

We have received an email from our tenant to state that he and his wife have rented a new house on 1 July in another area and they will be moving there by the end of the month.  His parents are also on the contract and he believes that they can stay on and he will continue to pay his half of the rent until September if required.  He plans to help his parents apply for housing benefit to help pay the rent.

My question is, can I take this as notice and explain to him that the contract will come to an end for everyone and that his parents can't stay on?  We want to take the house back to sell and this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

I don't know if he can change his mind and say he wants to stay on as his parents want to stay?

I don’t think I’d rely on that email as valid notice. Firstly, does the tenancy agreement say email is an accepted method of serving notice? Secondly, there isn’t a full tenancy period left between now and 31st July. 

I reckon you’d still need to go down the section 21 route if you want the property back. 

yeah, i had read on googling that the notice needs to be served in line with the contract, and our contract states that notice must be in writing, handed in person to our home address or posted to our home address.  so i agree that it would appear if that goes to court, he may claim it is an invalid notice.

i wondered if i could reply to say that effectively he has given notice, which will kick in at the next rent payment date, 30 July, so as the contract is a periodic contract, the tenancy will come to an end on 30 August.

He hasn’t given notice though, certainly not valid notice anyway. It sounds like he sent you a courtesy email saying he was moving out, not ending the tenancy.  If you want the tenants gone so you can sell you’re going to have to go through the process of serving notice yourself and pursuing it through the court if necessary. 

AskAsk

propertyrental said:

* which country is this? Rules vary.

* who is named as 'The Tenant'? How many people?

* is this a fixed term or periodic AST?

* if periodic, is it Statutory or Contractual?

* if contractual what does the contract say about notice periods?

* does the tenancy agreement allow notice by email?

* does the email actually state he is serving notice to end the tenancy? Does not appear to do so.

* does the email state a specific date to end the tenancy (" will be moving there by the end of the month." Far too vague to constitute notice)

This does not appear to be valid notice. Tenancy continues (irrespective of who does or does not remain in occupation).

Full rent is due.

Assuming this is a 'joint and several' tenancy there is no 'his half' of the rent - all joint tenants remain equally liable for the full rent.

All the above subject to clarifying the Qs asked.

If you want to take the property back, serve a S21 Notice (or S8 if applicable).

the property is in london.  there are 4 tenants on the AST, him, his wife and his parents.  they have been there for 3.5 years and the 12 months AST initially issued has become periodic as we did not issue a new contract when it ran out.  the contract allows for it to become periodic if notice had not been given by either side when the contract reaches its end date.

the contract is very specific on notice, which must be given in writing by hand or post to our home address, so the email isn't valid in accordance with the contract if the contract terms have to be followed to the letter.

he says he has rented another house but that he will continue to be at our property until the end of the month.  i think from the comments, what he has sent can not be taken as formal notice and we would have to advise him to serve formal notice.  he thinks that his name can be taken off the contract and his parents can continue on the contract on their own.  he doesn't understand that this is not possible for AST for joint tenancy, so I will have to explain to him the implications of him giving notice, that it will end the whole tenancy even if his parents themselves don't want to give notice.  I just wondered if what I have received was good enough to be taken as notice and that he can not change his mind, which means it makes it easier for us to take the property back as we would not have to go down the S21 route.

HampshireH

AskAsk said:

HampshireH said:

Sounds like he was just letting know out of courtesy he was moving out.

His email clearly states an intention to remain by the other tenants.

Doesn't read like he isn't giving notice to me

AST would end if anyone on the contract gives notice, so his parents have no right to stay on if he gives notice, but as discussed, I don't think what he has said can be taken as formal notice if he fights it and says he was just telling us about the situation and that he will stay on the contract so his parents can stay as there is of course no law against someone renting more than one property and there is no law that the tenant must live at the property as his permanent and main home as far as I am aware.

Sorry just reread this when I saw your reply. My post should have said "doesn't read like he IS giving notice to me" in keeping with the rest of my post

MultiFuelBurner

And are you all up to date. Gas cert, any deposit lodges correctly and within the legal time scales.

Have you performed the S21 checklist to make sure you have done everything correctly.

S21 is what you need to aim for the get to the house back.

propertyrental

As you say, this is not formal notice (on a number of grounds). So the tenancy continues even if he moved out.

In a periodic tenancy (not a fixed term) if valid notice is served by any one of the joint tenats it ends the tenancy as a whole, and all joint tenants are bound by the notice, so all joint tenants have to leave when the notice expires and the tenancy ends.

If they do not all leave, then they all potentially become liable to paying double rent.

See
Distress For Rent Act 1737 S18 & Landlord and Tenant Act 1730 S1(Double rent if tenant stays after giving notice) plus explanation here